


Are You Kidding Me

by PoisonHemloc



Category: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Emma and Genichiro are both five for most of this, Gen, Non-Binary!Tomoe, Snakes, genderfluid!Kingfisher, if you're reading this on an app an not ao3 they're making money off my work so. dont., minor spoilers for sake dialogue, prologue fic, set starting right after the opening cutscene of the game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21606820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonHemloc/pseuds/PoisonHemloc
Summary: Orangutan found a child on the battlefield and she refused to stop following him.
Relationships: Sculptor|Orangutan & Emma
Comments: 43
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to be posting a chapter a week, hopefully; everything's written, I've gone through it a few times, my beta reader hasn't had a chance. I'll edit if/when she gets to it.
> 
> I'm using they/them for Kingfisher (it's been patched apparently but there was a point where the game referred to them with both "he" and "she" and I'm using xe/xem for Tomoe. If I screw up with xe/xem, please let me know; I haven't had a ton of experience using that pronoun set.
> 
> Also if you're upset I’m using different pronouns for characters i want a fully cited 3k word APA style essay on why you think pronouns are an issue in a world with giant snakes and apes and centipedes and immortality.

This was just like every other battlefield he had been on before. Everything good in this central area had been taken by the Memorial Mob already; one was in the distance, stripping a corpse of what was probably family heirloom. Orangutan wandered around the bodies, occasionally taking a bite out of the rice ball he held. 

Isshin Ashina had finally achieved his goal of taking over this miserable chunk of land and Orangutan wished him the best of luck with it. He liked to fight more than anyone else the shinobi knew and was honestly better at it than any of them, too. Between the Sunken Valley clan, the tales of headless ghosts, and the problems coming from Senpou Temple, he was going to need to fight. Orangutan couldn’t see the clan surrendering peacefully, and he had been working on the temple himself and knew they would fight willingly if Isshin stepped in to curb some of their worst tendencies. 

Then there was a supposed village under Ashina that what’s-his-name, the fancy new lord who had arrived a few weeks before this last battle, had mentioned was getting worse. The inhuman blue samurai following at his heels had merely sighed; xe had probably been the one fighting through whatever was down there for them to get to Ashina. 

Orangutan went to take another bite of his rice ball when he heard the sound. It was quiet, and nearby, and almost drowned out between the cawing of crows and the cries of mourners combing the battlefields for their dead. It sounded like someone swallowing. He turned, rice ball half to his mouth, and scanned the area. No one. Then he looked down.

A child. Brown hair hanging loose, foreign looking clothing. Staring at him. Not even crouching, like they were going to run if he moved towards them, just standing still, staring. Not staring at him, he realized after a moment. Staring at the rice ball. If he lowered his hand, the child’s gaze followed it. 

For a moment he debated turning and leaving; this scrawny little thing would not be able to keep up if he walked away, but the thought troubled him. Why was a child out here alone, even if they were on the outskirts of the battlefield? He heard the child swallow again and sighed internally.  _ Only one way to find out _ , he decided, and knelt carefully, holding out the mostly intact rice ball. 

“Where are your parents?” He asked as the child grabbed the treat and began eating like they hadn’t for some time. He felt his pouch quickly and found a second rice ball. He would be fine without them; Isshin was throwing a party to celebrate his success and would definitely have both food and sake. He would be meeting Kingfisher on the way.

The child just stared at him. He carefully offered the second rice ball, which was devoured like the first, and asked again. This time he got a handful of words he didn’t recognize, but the child saw the frown and started speaking Japanese.

“They’re asleep.”  _ Why are they sleeping on a battlefield _ he bit back annoyance while a voice in the back of his mind started talking.

“Why are they sleeping here?” The child shrugged.

“They fell asleep and they don’t want to wake up.” The child was probably a girl, he decided. Well, time to get her off this battlefield. Who brought a child out here and fell asleep? He wanted to talk to her parents about not leaving her unsupervised so close to this field full of bodies; if they’d feigned sleep and then abandoned her deliberately- he stopped the thought. He did not want a child. He looked in the direction she had come from, then offered his hands to her so she wouldn’t have to walk back. Almost immediately upon being picked up, she fell asleep. 

_ Good thing I’m taking her back to her parents and yelling some sense into them _ Orangutan thought as he picked his way past bodies. Kingfisher already teased him for having such a soft spot for children, he did not need to adopt one and solidify their jokes. He headed for the further outskirts of the field until bright colors- besides red- caught his eye. 

Two people, dressed like foreigners, packs next to them. One pack looked like it had been dropped and jostled open; it appeared to hold silk, in many colors and fine craftsmanship, probably Chinese. The two looked like the foreign traders who came with Chinese Silk to trade for iron or other metals. Orangutan was fairly sure that’s why they’d come towards Ashina; what the land lacked in food production, it made up for with its metals.

Neither foreigner had moved as he approached. He was not being particularly quiet, he knew, and he was close enough that he would have hoped they would have woken up. He checked that the child was still asleep, and glanced at the ground beneath the two. Then he finally started listening to that little voice in the back of his head. They had not just left their child to wander a battlefield alone due to carelessness. 

They were dead. He hoped they were not, had tried not to trust what his intuition had started saying as soon as she said they were asleep, had not trusted his eyes, but there was too much blood on the ground, and now that he was at a different angle he could see arrows sticking out of the man’s chest. He glanced down at his arms again; the girl shifted for a moment but did not wake up. Just for a moment, the thought  _ Leave her _ flashed across his mind but, no, he couldn’t. Not here in the middle of a battlefield with dead parents and crows. 

_ Kingfisher is never going to shut up _ he thought as he carefully shifted the girl to one arm and grabbed the pack full of silks. When the Memorial Mob cleaned up the battlefield they would care for their bodies too, but he would need more money than he got as a shinobi for hire to raise a child to adulthood. Not that he was going to raise her to adulthood. But someone was and it wasn’t like her parents would need it. Pack on his shoulder and new daughter-no, just a child, this was not a permanent arrangement, he was not going to get attached, he could find someone to care for her in Ashina proper or in one of the villages and give them the silks after they agreed. He wanted to travel once they were done here, too see the rest of the country, and he couldn’t with a child in tow.

She was still sleeping in his arms. Orangutan shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned towards Ashina Castle. The celebration would wake her up but he was meeting Kingfisher in the outskirts anyway. He could get the teasing out of the way and make sure someone apologized to Isshin for him not coming.

“Orang- is that a child. You have a child. You know you’re supposed to be  _ killing _ people on a battlefield not having children, right?” Kingfisher was always energetic, but they were currently bouncing around the taller shinobi, trying to get a good look at the girl he was still carrying. “I thought one orphan today was a lot but apparently there were more children out than actual soldiers!”

“She found me. Both parents dead. I wasn’t going to leave her.” Orangutan frowned as the second half of his partner’s sentence sank in. “I only found her. Did you pick up a stray too?”

“Isshin did! He’s skipping the celebration to be with his new grandchild. Found a boy in a border village, mother dead, no other family around. Well, Gyoubu the Demon found the boy but you’ve met bleeding-heart Isshin, took him right in. Says he’s too old to be a dad but he can be a granddad.” They had stopped bounding around Orangutan but was still grinning at the girl, who had not woken up despite their talking. “You’re not too old to be a dad, right? I’d rather not be a great or a grand-anything.”

“I don’t even know if I’m keeping her. Maybe Isshin wants two. I just couldn’t leave her on the battlefield.” Part of him already hated to even think that, but realistically Orangutan was a shinobi; he would not be in Ashina after Isshin no longer needed his services, and that point was probably imminent. Travelling as much as he was going to wouldn’t be good for a child and he was going to keep telling himself that. “You go to the party. Tell… Someone why I didn’t show up so they don’t start combing the battlefield for my corpse. I’ll be at the shinobi quarters anyway.”

Orangutan woke up the next morning to pressure on this chest. He didn’t bother to turn his head and look before speaking. “Kingfisher, I know you were swooning over that blue samurai all evening. Don’t come crying to me if xe doesn’t like you.” 

“I’m over here. And I was not  _ swooning _ , thank you very much. I just think xe’s pretty.”

“You’ve been swooning over xem since xe got here. I saw the look on your face when xe was dueling Isshin.” It took a moment to realize what the weight on his chest was; he raised his head to see the girl he’d carried off the battlefield the evening before curled up on his chest rather than on the blankets he’d arranged for her to sleep on. He glared at Kingfisher, who was tying their hair up and tucking their necklace under their  _ kosode _ before they began pulling on their armor. “‘She was like that when I got back last night. Or early this morning, I’m not sure which. I don’t think you even woke up when she moved.”

“I-”

“I don’t even know if I’m keeping her,” Kingfisher had to pitch their voice down to match Orangutan’s deeper voice. “I think  _ she _ decided to keep  _ you _ .” 

Orangutan grunted rather than respond and sat up carefully, holding the girl in place, before transferring her back to her pile of blankets. This movement finally succeeded in waking her up, and bright brown eyes turned towards him. 

“What is your name?” He might as well start somewhere if this child was going to become attached.

“Emma.” And then she rattled off a handful of words in the language Orangutan didn’t speak. It sounded like there was a question in there, but for the life of him he couldn’t guess what it was. She might have guessed that, too, because after a moment she began speaking Japanese again. “I’m Emma. I’m five. Who’re you? Who’s that?” 

“Orangutan. That is Kingfisher, my partner. They’re leaving for the day now, but they’ll come back later.” In response to the pointed comment, Kingfisher grabbed their  _ ōdachi _ and left the room, grinning the entire time. “Can you stay here today? I think it might be safer for you.” Unlike Kingfisher, who hated sleeping in armor, Orangutan preferred it; he did not need anything other than his own  _ ōdachi _ , the axe he preferred to the  _ ōdachi _ , and the belt with his tools in it to be ready for the day. “I will come back in a few hours with some food.” Better to leave her here, make sure she wouldn’t get too attached. Rather than wait to see if she would listen to him, Orangutan rose and left. 

He got to the front door of the shinobi quarters when he looked back into the small face determinedly following him. Crouching, he tried to find the simplest words he could to tell a young foreign child to stay put. “Go back inside. It’s not safe outside. I will have food later.”  _ I’m not going to be your parent _ . He rose and she went to follow him again. Physically placing her back in the room did nothing; she followed him. Putting her inside and closing the door did not help either. He debated leaving through the window but he had a feeling this child would leap out after him. She did not seem to want him to leave her sight.

Eventually Orangutan gave up. It looked like Emma would be his shadow for the day. He picked her up and found a decent way for her to perch on his sword sheath, clinging to the neck of his armor, leaving his arms free. That way at least he wouldn’t worry about her not being able to keep up. He told himself it was only temporary, until he could find someone who could actually care for her, and almost believed himself.

He followed the somber whistling sounds to find the mostly standing shack that was Dogen’s workshop this month. Kingfisher was already talking with the doctor when Orangutan and Emma showed up. They turned, grinning as Dogen removed and started fiddling with the glove that kept their whistling finger in place; the entire reason the two had come to Ashina proper from the Sunken Valley was Kingfisher’s drive to have the severed digit and their ring in place on their hand rather than on a string with their necklace. They had never told Orangutan how they had lost the finger or where they had gotten the ring, but they were very protective of both. 

Orangutan nodded curtly but felt Emma, emboldened by already having met Kingfisher, wave from his back. His partner’s ever present grin grew wider as they turned back towards Dogen and leaned down to get the shorter man’s attention. 

Orangutan ignored a flutter in his chest as Dogen turned towards him, blinking; he was a brilliant doctor but loved mechanisms and tools to the point where Isshin had allowed him a workshop under the condition that it be out of the castle proper and somewhere where the inevitable explosions wouldn’t damage anything else. It took the much shorter man a moment to spot Emma still perched on Orangutan’s back, but when he did see her Dogen waved back. 

“Orangutan, I didn’t think I’d see you with a child for another few years.” He ignored the shinobi’s glare and the guffaw from Kingfisher. “I can check… her? Over to be sure she is healthy, if you wish. I did the same for Lord Isshin’s new grandson last night. Let’s see… she’s underweight, but nothing feels broken, no cuts- no, there’s a cut on her foot. That doesn’t look good little one, did you step on an arrowhead? If you hold still, I can help that. It will sting, but I have some sweets for a good girl who can hold still for Dogen…” Orangutan refused to look towards Kingfisher, choosing to watch Dogen smear an ointment on Emma’s foot as she watched from a seat on his workbench. He felt a twinge of guilt that he hadn’t even noticed the small cut on the underside of her foot, but was glad he’d decided to carry her rather than let her keep walking on it.

“So, Emma, you said? Emma, you’re about the same age as Lord Isshin’s grandson Genichiro, I’m sure Lord Isshin would be thrilled if you two got along. If Orangutan agrees, of course.” How could he say no when she looked more excited than she had in the entire 14 hours since he’s picked her up? Dogen returned to tinkering with the glove that held Kingfisher’s finger on as Orangutan and Emma set off towards the castle. 

Isshin was always busy, but currently he and Gyoubu were in one of the nicer chambers in the main building, making the room somewhere Genichiro, who even at five must have been six inches taller than Emma already, could stay in. Orangutan noted a small chest in a corner, a larger chest next to it, a few bookshelves that stood empty, and a pallet with a pile of blankets where the new Ashina Lord was sitting, listening to Gyoubu telling some highly embroidered tale about his days as a bandit. 

Isshin had abandoned the shirt he wore under his  _ dō _ the moment he felt he no longer needed armor and was in his  _ hakama _ and unbelted  _ haori _ like normal. He heard them enter and grinned as he looked over, turning his head more than normal to accommodate for his newly missing eye. Tomoe may have started the damage, but the duel with Tamura had been the nail in the coffin.

“You found a child too, Orangutan?” Isshin nodded at Emma, who had started trying to get down from Orangutan’s arms once she saw someone closer to her own age. Genichiro had seen her, too, and stopped paying attention to Gyoubu’s story in favor of Emma. Orangutan put her down and stood back as the two children started playing with each other. 

“Wandering the battlefield last night. Parents were dead. Looked like those foreigners that have been coming in trading silk for metal. Just picked a bad time.” Both were silent for a moment. Isshin had known this would be the cost of rebellion, the cost of wrenching his land free, would be high. It was one thing to know and another to have two reminders sitting on the floor, trying to play a game in two different languages with Gyoubu’s occasional help.

“I know you were planning on traveling more once Ashina settles down. I can take her, if you want. Genichiro seems to be warming up to her already.” 

“I…” Orangutan rubbed at his beard with one hand. “I am not sure.” Despite himself, he had grown attached to the small girl quickly. He still had the suspicion that he would not be a good father, since he had no idea how to raise a child and was not sure he could learn quickly enough for her sake, but already he hated the idea of someone else taking her. Isshin clapped him on the shoulder in a friendly way. 

“Think about it! Kingfisher told me last night that she’s attached to you already. It’s not like you are leaving tomorrow; I still have work for competent shinobi.” 

“True.” Orangutan smiled as Emma began explaining some aspect of their game to Genichiro in her other language. He could stay in Ashina for a while; he did not have to rush this decision.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma showcases an exciting talent, there is an expected but not happy consequence of pulling small children off battlefields, and Kingfisher showcases their general thought process  
> (This is gonna be slice of life for a bit)

“Emma, be careful, the rocks shift.” Orangutan watched, frowning slightly, as Emma nodded, and then continued running around the small outcropping like she had been before he said anything. Genichiro, who had been talked out of wearing an open  _ haori _ and no shirt in imitation of his new grandfather, had thrust a stick into his  _ obi _ and now was climbing the small, spindly tree growing out of the meager soil trapped in between the rocks. Isshin had jumped at the excuse to let a retainer handle the day to day running of the castle and was happy to join Orangutan in supervising the children exploring the castle grounds. 

He was inspecting a part of the castle wall that was beginning to show wear following the rebellion the month before as Orangutan made sure no one got too close to the edge of the cliff. Genichiro had accepted he couldn’t reach the next branch and started climbing down while Emma had gone around the pile of rocks; the shinobi started to circle around to a better position when he heard Emma gasp.

“ _Serpente_!” She sounded happy, even if she was speaking in her other language. She had called it “Portuguese” when he had asked. He could see her back; she was kneeling on the ground, looking at something. He had no idea what “ _serpente_ ” meant and started to walk closer. 

“Genichiro! Come here! _Serpente_!” She was holding something but… that was a snake, wasn’t it. A two foot long yellow snake and the child was hugging it like it was a dog. Orangutan started to rush forward but Emma had already frowned towards Genichiro, who was more interested in trying to use the stick like it was his grandfather’s sword than looking at the snake, and threw it, yelling “ _Serpente_ , Genichiro! _Veja_!” 

Orangutan lunged as Genichiro turned to see the snake suddenly flying towards him and grabbed it, letting it bite his armored arm as its tail harmlessly thwaped into Genichiro’s face. He put it down on the other side of the tree where it could hopefully go about its day without being manhandled by another five-year old and knelt, dragging Emma over to him and putting an arm around Genichiro, who hadn’t moved since he saw the snake. 

“Emma. We do not throw snakes. Especially not at our friends. It is not nice. What if the snake had bit Genichiro?” He felt the boy shudder a bit and took it as a good sign that he was still alive. Emma had definitely acted with a small child’s lack of concern for the future and looked horrified as he gently talked to her about not throwing reptiles at people.  _ This is parenthood, apparently _ flashed through his mind, followed by Kingfisher’s gently mocking  _ I don’t even know if I’m keeping her _ as he got Emma to apologize to Genichiro and decided it was time to head back to the castle. Isshin joined him, picking up his grandson as Orangutan picked up Emma.

“See, you’re doing great! I just heard the end. What happened? Did Emma hit him with a branch?” One month into having them and Isshin was already claiming that Emma could be great at sword fighting with some training and had been trying to convince the shinobi to start teaching her.

“Emma threw a snake at Genichiro because he wouldn’t come look at it. We’ll see you tomorrow.” Ignoring Isshin’s sudden spluttering of distress Orangutan ran up the stairs and took off towards the shinobi’s quarters before the Ashina Lord could ask any questions.

* * *

It had taken the better part of an hour for Emma to fall asleep; Orangutan put her down on the pile of blankets he had rightfully never returned to the other, still disused parts of the shinobi quarters. There was an intake of breath behind him and he half turned with a finger held to his lips; Kingfisher raised their hands in acceptance and settled onto their sleeping spot rather than risk waking Emma back up with talking. They were probably going to make a comment about him not wanting to adopt her at first; since it had been a month and a half with no mention of finding someone else to care for Emma, Kingfisher had been gently teasing him about his new daughter.

Orangutan woke up suddenly; it was still dark out. Rather than light a candle and destroy his night vision, he shut his eyes again and listened for whatever had woken him up. Rustling, twitching movements from where Emma was sleeping; he opened his eyes again and looked in her direction, seeing the slightly darker silhouette moving a little as she dreamt. She was probably snake hunting in her dreams. He rolled back onto his other side to go back to sleep.

He had just started to drift back off when Emma sat bolt upright, screaming. He scrambled up and over to her as Kingfisher jumped onto their feet, still half asleep, and began fumbling for a candle and tinderbox. 

Emma was speaking her other language still but as soon as there was enough light she threw herself at Orangutan, hugging his legs until he picked her up. 

“Emma, what happened?” He was rewarded with a stream of Portugese he didn’t know; the handful of words he had learned were not present. For a fleeting moment the small part of his brain not occupied with a screaming, sobbing five-year old was glad he and Kingfisher were the only shinobi using the quarters currently.

She spent the next five minutes sobbing into his shirt, but he eventually made out enough in fragmented Japanese to understand. 

“She had a nightmare where she was all alone on the battlefield,” he told Kingfisher, sitting next to the small candle. “And she was running everywhere and couldn’t find anyone. Emma, it’s okay, I’m right here. You did find me when you were running around, Emma. Me, Kingfisher, and Dogen, and Genichiro and Isshin.” Her crying had gone from loud, chest rattling wails into quieter sobs but she hadn’t stopped. Orangutan and Kingfisher began talking quietly to Emma until the sobs stopped, and then until she fell asleep; she was holding onto his hand as tightly as she could even asleep. Orangutan put her back onto her blanket bed, careful to keep his hand close enough she could still hold it, as Kingfisher blew out the candle and all three went back to sleep.

The next morning Orangutan and Emma were headed through the castle on their way to the outskirts. Kingfisher had no pressing duties and had decided to deal with waking up during the night by sleeping in. Emma was yawning leaning on Orangutan’s shoulder when he nodded politely at Lord Isshin, who had agreed that kneeling or bowing was not advisable with Emma still perched on his  _ ōdachi _ sheath. Isshin looked somehow more tired than Orangutan felt; in response to the raised eyebrow, he sighed.

“Genichiro had a nightmare last night. I was up half the night with him. He’s still asleep.”

“Emma too. We were only awake an hour or two though. Kingfisher has chosen to recoup that sleep now.”

“Lucky them.” Muttered Isshin as he returned to whatever he had been supervising. Orangutan and Emma continued on their way out of the castle.

* * *

“She will be fine with me! Don’t you trust me?” Kingfisher pressed the hand not holding Emma against their heart for a moment, giving Orangutan a look like a dog denied a hamburger. “Isshin sent you directly to deal with the rats sneaking in around the Senpou Temple road. Are you really thinking about taking Emma with you?”

“No, of course not. Their assassins are enough of a pain to deal with already. But at least try to find Dogen once he’s free? She likes learning things with him.” Orangutan tousled Emma’s hair as he turned to leave. Kingfisher looked down at the girl they were holding and smiled, but before they could start asking Emma about ideas for the day, they gasped as Orangutan leaned back inside the room to ruffle Kingfisher’s hair as well. He ignored the indignant cry of “How dare you!” as he took off towards the old Senpou Temple road. 

“Animal,” muttered Kingfisher, combing their hair back to vaguely straight with one hand as Emma giggled and copied the movements. “Well, Emma, we have the day to ourselves without that stick-in-the-mud. What do you want to do?” 

Emma looked around the small room, seemingly lost in thought. An entire day without Orangutan stopping her from all the activities she thought would be great fun, that he always vetoed with the single sentence “it’s not safe?” What  _ didn’t _ she want to do? Kingfisher didn’t like snakes, so that wouldn’t work. She thought for a moment before seizing upon the top of her list of things she was not allowed to do.

“Let’s climb the castle!”

Kingfisher grinned, clinging to the edge of the roof on this quiet corner of the castle. Emma had taken to climbing very quickly once they explained the basics and Kingfisher was already thinking about the best way to convince Orangutan the girl would excel as a shinobi. She could climb, Isshin thought she could use a blade, if sneaking around was hard Orangutan wouldn’t be able to, not with how loud he was, she- 

She wasn’t there. 

Kingfisher pulled themself up onto the roof and looked around quickly. Emma didn’t fall, they hadn’t heard her fall, and she had been told to stay within sight, so where was she? She was good, but not that fast yet.

There! She’d pulled herself up to the next story’s ledge while Kingfisher was convincing themself of the girl’s talents. Kingfisher hurried over as the child started swinging her legs back and forth in an effort to get enough momentum to reach further up the roof.

And then Kingfisher dived forward as Emma lost her grip and fell.

Kingfisher grabbed Emma, hugging her close to their chest with one arm and crashed into the rooftop below. They managed to grab the decoration on the edge of this one, dangling from it one handed as they squished Emma into their _ dō _ . Their near permanent smile took a slight manic twist as the fought to keep from loudly expressing how much their left shoulder hitting the rooftop had hurt and how much worse it was because they were hanging from their left arm with no good way to get back up. Emma stared up at them as best she could, eyes wide; falling had not been part of her idea when she thought about climbing the castle. 

After what felt like an eternity of pain and no good options for Kingfisher, they had an idea, and looked down at Emma.

“I’ll lift you up, and you climb back up, and then I can climb back up. Alright?”

Emma nodded and, holding the back of her shirt tightly, Kingfisher lifted her up until she could reach the rooftop’s ornamental edging. Kingfisher did not relax until Emma had successfully scrambled up onto the roof and they had pulled themself up as well. 

“Well, that was fun! No bruises? Good! If Orangutan asks, we were watching the rice farmers all day, alright?”

“The ones with the big hats?”

“Yes! With the  _ sugegasa _ ! We can go see them now, actually.”

Orangutan returned late that night to Emma already asleep on her pile of blankets and Kingfisher rubbing at their left shoulder, though the way they stopped immediately after he arrived made him suspicious.

“How did the rat hunt go?” Kingfisher seemed eager to distract him, pestering him quietly with questions about Senpou Temple. They were interested in the news that Isshin was seriously considering the destruction of the large bridge connecting Mt. Kongo with the rest of Ashina following Orangutan’s findings of bodies scattered around the grounds and the worrying sighting of monks that appeared in the late stages of decay, but were moving around.

“How was your day with Emma?” Orangutan finally managed to get the question in after twenty minutes of Kingfisher’s quiet bombardment. Their smile froze for a moment in a way he knew well before they plunged right in.

“We spent the day watching the rice farmers mostly. Might have tweaked my shoulder picking her up and putting her down so much; she wants to see everything!” 

“Really. Just rice farmers.”

“Would I lie to you? Emma? Am I lying to suspicious old Orangutan?”

“We watched the rice farmers in their big ha-in their  _ sugegasa _ .” Orangutan turned; Emma had woken up at some point while Kingfisher kept him talking. 

“See? She wouldn’t lie to you. Go back to sleep, Emma, the adults will stop talking.”  _ He doesn’t need the full truth _ Kingfisher thought quietly. Orangutan could learn about the day they spent climbing in a few weeks, when the danger was obviously gone and he wouldn’t be so mad.

“Hmph.”  _ They did not go watch the rice farmers all day, _ Orangutan thought, but Emma did not appear hurt, and Kingfisher only had a sore shoulder; He didn’t need to dig too deeply into what they had actually done. Besides, Emma had already fallen back asleep and to continue the conversation with Kingfisher would wake her up again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the Japanese word for snake is pronounced "hebi" (ヘビ) so while as an English speaker I can go "oh she found a snake" Orangutan is speaking Japanese and got to find out the hard way.  
> "Veja" means look in Portuguese btw
> 
> ...yeah I'm pretty much incapable of writing a fic without bullying Genichiro somehow. He does not deserve it yet, but he will (in 20 years.)
> 
> MrsLittleTall reminded me that not everyone dove headlong into Japanese clothing from the era prepping for this fic and a cosplay so here's terms, explained by a dental hygienist from california:
> 
> Haori: Essentially an overcoat for this time period. That orange coat Wolf wears? That's a haori.
> 
> Obi: A belt for holding swords and similar. To use Wolf again here, the cloth belt he uses to hold Kusabimaru? That's an obi.
> 
> Odachi: A big sword. Katanas are, like, a size down? A kodachi is smaller than a katana and a tanto is smaller than that (generally, there can be some size overlap is my understanding) (those two other sword types will come up again, in like, three weeks).
> 
> Do: Breastplate on armor. Also I didn't name it here but the armor Orangutan had the snake bite is called a kote, they're arm guards.
> 
> Sugegasa: A large conical hat; the rats from Senpou wear sugegasa.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma does not have a good day, then everyone knew someone had to get drunk during this story.

“Do you want to play with Genichiro today, or do you want to watch Dogen?” Three months after unofficially adopting Emma, and Orangutan had finally settled into a routine for the days Isshin did not have a specific job for him. Wake up, inevitably have her wake up within five minutes of him starting to move around, and bring her to the main body of the castle to either play with Genichiro while he talked with Isshin or Gyoubu or bring her to Dogen to listen to him ramble about medicine before, barring a medical issue demanding Dogen’s attention, Orangutan and Dogen would start drinking; at that point she would leave to find Genichiro or Kingfisher anyway. 

“Dogen!” Orangutan nodded; Genichiro had been playing with sticks, pretending to be a samurai, since shortly after Isshin had adopted him; Emma had been hit once or twice when his small child coordination failed him. He had gotten better about being careful after the last time; Emma, apparently fed up with getting hit every other week, had launched herself at him and bitten him on the arm. Isshin had lectured both of them about not hitting people with sticks and not biting people while Orangutan went to get Dogen. 

“Dogen it is, then.” The shinobi preferred that, anyway; he liked to see the short doctor, even if he did not know about Orangutan’s crush, Dogen had seemed to brighten up when he saw the shinobi even before Emma. Now, he smiled and doted on her.

There were a pair of merchants, presumably, in the main audience chamber. Normally Orangutan wouldn’t have gone this way, but Dogen had mentioned spending some time in his workshop outside the castle walls and this was the fastest route. Merchants already inside the castle and talking with a couple of retainers were not a concern for Orangutan. He heard a snippet of their conversation as he skirted the wall of the room headed for the far exit and realized it was Emma’s other language, which she didn’t use as much anymore. Portugese. 

She must have heard it too, because she was suddenly sliding down from her perch on his back, which was still the easiest way for her to travel with him. He turned as she ran across the hall towards the merchants yelling something in Portugese. 

Then he saw it was a man and woman pair, and their hair and features were fairly similar to what he remembered of Emma’s parents, the one brief time he saw them. And realized why she must have run over to them. 

He ran after her, hoping that Emma had merely run with the joy of hearing her native language again, and watched her hug the woman around the leg. The Portugese merchant obviously was not expecting a small child to run over and hug her, and was frowning downwards as her companion looked up at the hurrying Orangutan who had started calling Emma to come back.

Orangutan felt his heart break a little as Emma, who had been pressing her face into the woman’s leg as she hugged it, looked up, and took a few steps backwards in shock. She started speaking again, still in Portugese; Both merchants were frowning and the woman looked like she was going to start speaking as Orangutan finally arrived and offered the girl his arms. She looked up at the woman, who said a sentence in Portugese; whatever it was, it caused Emma to burst into tears and dive into the offered hug. 

Orangutan picked her up, still crying, and carefully addressed the merchants. “She was abandoned on a battlefield a few months ago. I have had her since; she must have thought you were her parents since no one else here speaks your language.” Snapping at them like he wanted to do would make this retainer's life harder and he struggled to hold onto that thought restraining him as Emma cried in his arms.  


“Yes. She asked why we look different; I told her we were not her family, that they must be gone.” The woman looked guilty for a moment, but frowned slightly as she looked at Emma. “We  _ could _ take her, I suppose, but there is another battle that we fear will be starting in the south soon and we need to travel that way before the passes close. If she is happy here, better not to risk that happiness in case something happens before we reach the rest of the party.” 

Orangutan nodded curtly and walked off with the still crying Emma, not bothering to hide his anger that, no matter how remorseful the woman seemed- neither the man with her nor the Ashina retainer they were talking to had even started to speak- she had still told a five-year old her family was dead. Even if she was right; Orangutan still wasn’t sure when the best time to tell Emma that. She hadn't asked about her missing parents at all; he had hoped she knew because he did not know how to explain to her. Hopefully Dogen could help.

For a moment he wished he had Isshin’s position of not needing to explain, but put the thought from his mind when he remembered Gyoubu’s clipped, sterile description of finding a bloody, sobbing child hugging his dead mother in the forest outside their village. He’d only been willing to talk about it after half a bottle of sake; Isshin had arrived soon after him and wasn’t willing to talk about it at all. Better Emma did not have that as her last memories of her parents.

“Dogen.” How did Kingfisher always get up here first? They had still been asleep when he had left with Emma. They had looked up, grinning, as he entered, but it almost instantly turned into a rare frown when they saw Emma sobbing in Orangutan's arms. Dogen actually put down the mechanism he had been using to tinker with Kingfisher’s glove and ran over.

“Emma? Dear, are you okay? What happened?” The last was directed at Orangutan; in response to his open hand, Emma had merely clung tighter to Orangutan and continued wailing. 

“Merchants. Portugese. She thought they were her parents. They were rather curt telling her they were not.” He settled on the ground in the part of the workshop that had a roof, next to Kingfisher’s abandoned chair, still hugging Emma. “I wasn’t sure if she knew where her parents were or what happened.” He looked at Dogen, who obviously had realized his next question.

“I can help explain, Orangutan, but I don’t think she’s letting go of you for a while.” Orangutan nodded, stroking Emma’s hair as Kingfisher sat on the ground to his right. Dogen moved the chair and took its place to his left. Eventually, Emma started talking again, occasionally taking the large hiccuping breaths that come right after crying.

“I thought… I thought that was mamãe and papai. But it wasn’t.”

“No, Emma dear.”

“I thought they came back.” She looked up at Orangutan, sniffing. “They’re not coming back. Are they?”

“No, Emma, I don’t think they are.”

He looked at Dogen and Kingfisher as Emma went back to crying, a little more quietly, into his armor. 

“Dogen… tea? She likes green tea. She’ll need something to drink soon.” He shifted carefully to hug her closer. “Kingfisher, her favorite blanket is the worn one with the faded cranes on it.” Both nodded and hurried off; Orangutan started stroking Emma’s hair. 

“I’m staying here, Emma. I’m not going to leave you.”

She had fallen asleep by the time the others returned, and all four spent the rest of the day sitting against a wall inside Dogen’s workshop.

* * *

“Orangutan! You’re right on time!” Dogen grinned up at the shinobi before waving at the practically ever-present Emma, currently being carried rather than perching on his back. “And how is Emma dear’s leg doing today?” He addressed her directly; she was being carried due to the bandage he had placed following an incident with Kingfisher near the Castle Gate. Emma had cut her leg from ankle to knee, Kingfisher was still panicked enough several hours later that Orangutan had thought Emma had being much more seriously hurt when he got back from Senpou Temple, and then Kingfisher had gotten to have a very serious discussion about appropriate places to take a five-year old and how that did not include anywhere Gyoubu the Demon had recently been fighting people.

“What are we on time for?” Orangutan put Emma down; He had seen Isshin in the room as well, and saw Genichiro reading something over in a corner; the two were much more willing to play with each other if they knew Emma wasn’t about to be hit with a stick and Genichiro wasn’t about to have a snake thrown at him. Despite Orangutan, Kingfisher, Dogen and even Isshin having a discussion about it with Emma, she would still throw reptiles she found at whoever was not coming to see them fast enough for her tastes; generally that was Genichiro, or occasionally Kingfisher.

“Lord Isshin got sake!” Dogen lowered his voice conspiratorially, “ _ Dragonspring _ sake!” 

“So I’m on time to get drunk on good sake? Perfect.” Kingfisher would be upset they were supposed to be scoping out the valley on the far side of the Gun Fort that day, but they didn’t need to know until they got back. Orangutan followed Dogen and Emma inside to see Gyoubu on a far wall and two vaguely familiar faces to Isshin’s other side.

“Orangutan! All of you moochers show up for Dragonspring. I’m sure you’ve met Owl and Butterfly?” Orangutan nodded to the older pair of shinobi in the room. Owl was occasionally contracted by Isshin, versus Orangutan and Kingfisher serving as vaguely permanent shinobi. Butterfly had trained with him much how Orangutan and Kingfisher had trained together, but she had only come to Ashina when Owl had called on her for help, never to serve Isshin herself. Owl, as tall as Isshin but wider, nodded from his seat on the floor. The much shorter Butterfly merely inclined her head as a greeting. 

“Emma? So you ended up with an orphan too, Orangutan?” Owl had declined the first round of sake; no one would be rude enough to say so, but everyone knew it was because he would be tipsy by the first cup and nearly black out drunk by the third. 

“Yes. Her parents were merchants. Wrong time, wrong place. She’s quite attached to myself and Kingfisher and to Dogen.” Dogen laughed a little, but added “She’s very interested in medicine. I’m sure she could learn to be a great doctor one day if Kingfisher doesn’t convince her to be a shinobi or Lord Isshin manages to convince her to become a samurai.” 

Owl laughed as Orangutan grinned, though Isshin looked thoughtful. “Genichiro could use someone to spar with him once they’re older and she does seem like she’d be good at it-” 

“Lord Isshin, drunk already?” Laughed Butterfly. “Don’t teach a girl the sword, unless you want her beating Genichiro in every fight.” More laughter; almost everyone was on their second cup, except Owl who had finally consented to have his first. “She might even beat Owl’s cub, since at the rate he’s growing I think he’ll stay small enough a strong breeze could knock him over.”

“Owl’s cub?” When had Owl gotten a child? Four pairs of ears perked up and looked towards the shinobi as he glanced at Butterfly, then rolled his eyes and finished his first cup.

“I picked up a stray right after your coup, Lord Isshin. Another one, wandering the battlefield. He was collecting swords for the Memorial Mob. A little older than either of yours, but he’s training better than any apprentice I’ve found yet. If I had known this would be child inclusive I’d have brought him along, but he’s working with Hornet this week. If he doesn’t grow he’ll need to learn how to use a grappling hook.” 

“It’s been three months, Owl, were you not going to tell us you have a child?” Dogen’s question was almost drowned out by Gyoubu’s “Did everyone find a child on that battlefield except Dogen?” Orangutan glanced over at the children, who had looked up at the sudden explosion of noise but then returned to their discussion; it sounded like they were debating if snake skin would make good armor or not. 

Isshin was frowning, however. “Owl, this is the third new apprentice you’ve had in five years. I haven’t heard anything about the other two.” Owl returned the one eyed stare steadily. 

“Neither could grasp my Iron Code. Don’t worry, Lord Isshin, I’m not mean about them not being able to keep up with me. They are in places better suited to them now.” Butterfly looked into her sake cup before draining and refilling it. Orangutan kept his face steady; he and Isshin had the best heads for alcohol in this gathering, and even with Isshin matching Butterfly cup for cup his gaze was steadier than Owl now sipping his second. He caught Isshin’s eye as Owl took another drink; that was a sentence with secrets killed and buried behind it.

Neither had a chance to act on it. Gyoubu, who got louder the more he drank, had almost yelled a question to Butterfly and it took everyone an ear ringing moment to decipher what he had said, then longer to stop laughing after she attempted to respond in kind. Emma and Genichiro had left the room at some point; Dogen, leaning at an extreme angle to check, fell over before reporting that they had merely moved into the adjacent room to read one of the easier books Genichiro had been given. Eventually, when everyone was drunk, but no one had passed out yet, Isshin closed the sake jars and ordered them all out, to recover; Orangutan, helped by the late and disappointed Kingfisher, recovered a sleeping Emma and staggered to the shinobi quarters, followed by Owl being half carried by an also wobbly Butterfly.

Orangutan met up with Lord Isshin the next day; he may not have been young anymore, but he had never had a serious hangover. Isshin was the same. Gyoubu had already arranged for someone to cover him at the castle gate, Dogen had left medicine to his apprentices, and Owl and Butterfly were sleeping off the sake in a spare room in the shinobi quarters. Emma and Genichiro had chosen a new topic for debate which sounded like they were debating what would happen if you set off firecrackers at the bottom of the moat.

“Owl has had three apprentices in the past five years, Lord Isshin. This one is his fourth.” Orangutan hadn’t wanted to confront the man the night before, but it payed to keep an eye on Owl, even if that meant paying other shinobi who worked with him occasionally. Something about the man had always made Orangutan suspicious. 

“I know, Orangutan. Four, and this is his fifth, actually, one only lasted a week. He thinks every shinobi he works with is loyal to him only. Most are more loyal to money, and I try to keep tabs on him. One was too slow to pick up on manners, one was found by an uncle, two had various other issues that could be handled by someone willing to work with them, not someone with no tolerance.” Isshin sighed. “Butterfly knows where the bodies are, too; I’d be surprised if she didn’t help. If this one has lasted three months he will probably make it through Owl’s training, but I shudder to think what he will become.”

“Owl’s Iron Code only benefits himself, Lord Isshin. There’s a reason he’s the only shinobi who uses it. Not even Butterfly uses it.”

“I know. It worries me. It will take some time for his stray to finish training, but once he does hopefully he does not come here. I do not want to risk shura roaming Ashina, not so soon after we took it back, and I worry that is all that will result from a shinobi raised under Owl’s Iron Code.” Orangutan nodded and turned his attention back to Emma and Genichiro, and missed Isshin watching him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few weeks since I reread this chunk and Emma's bit did make me tear up this time.
> 
> I think Isshin has current apprentice body count accurate but if he doesn't, it's higher. Also (not) fun fact Wolf knows about the previous apprentices that didn't make it and they have been used as a motivational tool for him because Owl is a terrible human being and Butterfly isn't really any better.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it's snowing in Ashina currently.

Emma giggled, clinging to Orangutan’s shoulder as he made his way around the deeper snowdrifts outside the castle. He wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen this much snow before; when he’d started to walk outside that morning, he’d had to double back inside the shinobi quarters to grab a spare blanket to wrap her in and had decided to be late to his meeting with Isshin and her playing with Genichiro that morning to get her more cold weather clothing. 

She was still wrapped up in the blanket over the thicker clothing and socks he’d gotten; cold had never really bothered him in the valley, but with how small she was he worried about her getting frostbite or hypothermia. 

He looked over, hearing his name, and saw Isshin, holding Genichiro, standing next to a bridge, talking with Tomoe and Kingfisher. In a similar manner to Orangutan’s approach, Genichiro was bundled up in thicker clothing and a blanket whereas Isshin had taken the drastic of step of tying his  _ haori _ closed against the cold, though not the practically unheard of level of putting on anything underneath it. He waved Orangutan over with the arm not holding Genichiro.

“I figured you’d be late this morning. First real snow reminded me to get more winter clothing for Genichiro as well.” He turned back to Tomoe, resuming their conversation about the sapling Takeru wanted to plant in the castle. 

Kingfisher was standing next to Tomoe, occasionally glancing up at the samurai, who was always the tallest person present by virtue of xyr neck. Orangutan knew them well enough to recognize the specific smile they had as being the “I’m right next to my crush” smile and raised an eyebrow when neither Tomoe nor Isshin were watching. Kingfisher returned the look and focused over his shoulder as Dogen hailed them; Orangutan turned, feeling Emma shift to wave, as Dogen and Gyoubu approached from different directions. Orangutan nodded to them, fighting the dopey smile Kingfisher would be teasing him about later. Emma started shifting in preparation to climb down from her perch before Orangutan reached behind himself and lifted her over his head to carry her instead. It would be warmer for her not to be walking in the snow.

“Everyone’s meeting in the cold today. What are we avoiding inside?” Gyoubu grumbled as he walked over to take Genichiro from Isshin. Family was all well and good, but Gyoubu had his heavy fur cloak on versus Isshin’s  _ haori _ and Genichiro was already reaching towards him as he approached. Isshin just nodded in thanks as he and Tomoe talked. Dogen walked over to Kingfisher and began inspecting their prosthetic hand. Orangutan turned to watch them, leaning on the castle wall as Emma shifted to get comfortable. He had to wait for Isshin to finish with Tomoe before he could get his orders for the day.

Dogen had removed the prosthetic to tweak a component when Orangutan saw movement and snapped his head around just in time to watch the snowball Emma had made from the snow drift next to them hit Isshin square in the face in the middle of his sentence. Isshin turned, snow still sliding off his incredulous face, as Tomoe backed up; it sounded like xe was trying not to laugh. Dogen had frozen completely; Gyoubu had instinctively moved to shield Genichiro, who was trying to see what was going on over his shoulder. 

And Kingfisher, grinning hugely, grabbed another handful of snow and hit Orangutan in the face.

Isshin had had time to process what had happened, but knew deliberately aiming at Emma was inviting Orangutan to try to physically hit him and chose to also hit Orangutan with a snowball. Dogen, in a show of solidarity, tried to hit Isshin with a one handed snowball, since he was still holding Kingfisher’s prosthetic, and instead hit Tomoe, who began pelting him in response and jumping around to make xemself harder to hit. Gyoubu had attempted to get Genichiro out of the firing range only for the younger Ashina lord to slide out of his grasp and run to join in, hitting Kingfisher’s  _ dō _ . 

Orangutan gave up and put Emma down, out of the line of fire, with one hand, shielding his face with the other; none of the adults wanted to hit her or Genichiro and they moved off to one side and started their own snowball war. Emma out of the adult’s battle, Orangutan began targeting Isshin and Kingfisher both as they focused on him and Dogen lost his one sided battle with Tomoe. 

Gyoubu, relieved of his duties with Genichiro, charged in and joined Orangutan by hitting Kingfisher with a large enough snowball to knock them unsteady for a moment. Orangutan took advantage to hit Isshin in the half covered chest with what was practically a slushball. Gyoubu followed the hit with a snowball to his face that caused Isshin to back into the railing on the bridge. Kingfisher, laughing, knocked Gyoubu’s helmet off with a well-aimed throw.

Orangutan looked around as Gyoubu focused on the shinobi. Emma and Genichiro had relocated to a spot further away from the adults but were still pelting each other with snow; despite his overall lack of athletic ability, Dogen had finally shoved Kingfisher’s prosthetic into a pocket and had managed to knock Tomoe’s mask askew at the price of being hit hard enough to knock him into one of the snow drifts. Tomoe was fixing xyr mask as he pulled himself back onto his feet. 

Isshin hit Orangutan in the chest with a snowball, dragging his attention back to his fight. Kingfisher was standing next to Isshin, throwing snowballs at Gyoubu, who was ignoring them in favor of rolling together something that looked like a snow boulder. Dogen was saying something, but Orangutan was throwing snowballs at Kingfisher to distract them from stopping whatever Gyoubu’s plan was and not listening to any sounds from other adults. 

Gyoubu managed to get his snow boulder onto one shoulder, and took aim; Isshin saw the danger and grabbed Kingfisher’s shoulder, but Dogen had apparently been forging a truce with Tomoe because xe had started throwing snowballs at Isshin and Kingfisher instead of him. Sufficiently distracted, Gyoubu’s boulder hit both of them.

And knocked both of them over the bridge railing and into the moat. 

Everyone froze for a second, and Tomoe was the first to run up onto the bridge and look down. 

“Aren’t you glad it’s so cold out that the moat is frozen, Isshin?” Orangutan breathed out and went around to the side of the bridge. The moat was frozen, but there was a spiderweb of cracks surrounding the two fighters. Isshin was close enough for him to grab one of his ankles, so Orangutan did, and carefully dragged the cursing lord to the shore. Tomoe had sprinted off to grab a rope from one of the storehouses nearby and was using it to carefully pull Kingfisher back onto the bridge. Everyone stayed in the quiet, “oh that was actually pretty dangerous and we didn’t realize” reaction for a few minutes; Orangutan looked over to the children to see they had not only not noticed, they were still throwing snow at each other. 

He caught Isshin’s eye and both walked over and grabbed a child. Ignoring the protests, they returned to the main group as Dogen spoke up.

“Time to go inside and get warmed up or we’re all going to get sick. Well, almost.” He craned his neck to look up at Tomoe. Xe laughed quietly.

“I can’t get sick from the cold. But Lord Takeru is probably wondering where I went.” Xe waved as xe headed back into the castle.

“Lucky xem,” muttered Gyoubu, as he and Isshin returned to the castle. Once they had gone a few steps, Genichiro being transferred to the dryer Gyoubu, Isshin started laughing about not being able to dodge such a large projectile.

“No, you three are coming inside the castle proper, I know there isn’t a decent fireplace in the shinobi quarters right now. If not for your sake then for Emma’s.” Dogen didn’t need to try and guilt trip the two shinobi into following him inside; Kingfisher’s feet were wet from the ice covering the moat giving up as Tomoe pulled them back to the bridge and Orangutan was just cold. Emma was grinning quietly in Orangutan’s arms; she’d just had a fun battle against Genichiro and hadn't been reprimanded for hitting Isshin in the face; as far as she was concerned, today had barely started and already was a lot of fun.

“So that’s Lord Isshin, you, Kingfisher, and me.” Dogen sneezed into his sleeve and went back to brewing tea. “I’m not surprised Gyoubu and Tomoe didn’t get sick.”

“I am more surprised Emma and Genichiro are fine,” Orangutan answered. He and Kingfisher had been ordered by Dogen to remain in the castle proper until they were no longer sick. Emma and Genichiro were being watched by Gyoubu when he wasn’t on gate duty, and Takeru and Tomoe when he was. Isshin had been ordered by both Dogen and his higher ranking retainers to stay confined to his room if he wasn’t willing to stay in Dogen’s sick rooms like Orangutan and Kingfisher; Dogen was trying to limit the cold’s spread, and none of the retainers wanted to risk getting a cold. His apprentices were in charge for the next week or two, since he was also staying in the sick rooms. 

Orangutan looked over at Kingfisher, who dealt with illness by sleeping through it. “I’m also surprised their frostbite healed so fast.” Wet feet in the snow and cold had done its work before they had even gotten into the castle; Dogen had been given Emma to carry and Orangutan had carried Kingfisher up to his operatory, after asking them to stop cursing in front of Emma. 

Dogen shrugged. “I’m good at fixing that. I have to be, with how Ashina is.” He sneezed into his sleeve again. Orangutan started to respond and ended up coughing instead; between coughing frequently and a sore throat he couldn’t sleep through sickness like Kingfisher could. 

“I heard several of his retainers were very upset with all of us. They were talking last night to Doujun as he was making that tea for Isshin. They think Isshin being healthy is the only reason no one has come back up here to attack us since the rebellion.”

“Isshin will be fine. It’s just a cold. And they don’t give themselves enough credit, thinking Isshin is the only thing keeping Ashina from invasion.”

Early the next morning Dogen was woken up by the sounds of someone being dragged against their will nearby and swearing about it. He looked at Orangutan, who wasn’t sleeping due to his sore throat; the shinobi had already sat up and reached for his axe out of reflex. 

The door slid open and one of the Ashina Spears, in full armor, looked inside the sick rooms, scanning until he saw Dogen. “Lord Dogen, we have another patient for you. None of the rest of us want to get sick.” And with the other Spear with him managed to pull Isshin into the sick area. Isshin’s fury was being ignored; one of them had wrapped him in a blanket to trap his arms and both were wearing their full armor to protect against kicks or bites. They put him inside and closed the door, then Dogen heard the sounds of both of them running off as quickly as they could. 

“Well, Lord Isshin, your retainers have spoken, and you’re staying here with the rest of us.” Dogen began getting the fire going again. Orangutan put down the axe with the rest of his things. Kingfisher had woken up and waved lethargically before pulling a blanket back over their head to go back to sleep. Isshin was scowling as he tried to unwrap himself from the blanket.

“I have other things that require m-”

“Isshin, your retainers know what they’re doing for most everything, and none of them want to get sick. Just let them run Ashina for a week, they’ll ask if there’s anything that requires your decisions.” Orangutan laid back down, ignoring the glare. “You fell into the moat. If you had frostbite like Kingfisher they wouldn’t have even let you stay in your quarters for this long.” Eventually Isshin accepted that he was going to be confined with the other sick people for a while and settled down. Kingfisher woke back up as Dogen finished brewing tea.

“Isshin, I’m willing to bet that you wouldn’t have gotten sick if you wore a shirt.” They had a sleepy grin on their face as they took the offered cup from Dogen. 

“I’d rather get sick,” muttered Isshin, who proceeded to totally ignore Dogen’s impromptu lecture about colds and sickness and why he shouldn’t have been outside wearing mostly summer clothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I write this chapter as an add-on when I thought I was finished, just had to review/edit a little more, because I suddenly had the vision of Emma just. Nailing Isshin in the face with a snowball?
> 
> Yes. Yes I did. I regret nothing.
> 
> A Haori is an overcoat; that orange thing Wolf wears? That's a haori
> 
> A Do is an armor breastplate.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kingfisher is babysitting. Then, the inevitable results of Kingfisher babysitting.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright today? Remember, Dogen is-” 

“Dealing with those two people who started coughing up blood, I’m not taking the children near that.” Kingfisher raised their eyebrows at Orangutan. “I’ve watched Emma multiple times, Orangutan, and adding Genichiro is not going to be an issue. I know everyone’s busy except me today.” Orangutan was still frowning. He had never given up on the idea that  _ something _ had happened the first time Kingfisher had watched Emma, but he was needed at the Senpou Temple road; Isshin had finally decided to destroy the bridge connecting it to Ashina as a whole. Too many people had disappeared nearby. Isshin himself had decided to be present in case the monks started to fight back. That would normally have meant Kingfisher just had Emma, but Gyoubu was on gate duty all day and Takeru and Tomoe had been busy planning something when asked, so they got Genichiro as well. He eventually nodded and left to catch up with Isshin, who had no reason to be suspicious of Kingfisher.

“That grumpy old monkey is finally out. Emma, Genichiro, what do you want to do today? Something you normally aren’t allowed to do?” Emma brightened up after watching Orangutan leave; after being injured at the castle gate trying to look for the serpent god, they had gone climbing into the valley behind Ashina Reservoir the last time he was gone; Kingfisher had been adamant that it lived there as well. And they had gone into the Bodhisattva Valley to see the giant old Buddha statues there the time before that. Climbing the castle was only the first adventure, with Orangutan busy. She looked at Genichiro, who was staring at the large sword Kingfisher used. Isshin, in a rare moment of restraint, had decided that Genichiro would not be allowed to handle weapons with live blades on them until he was older and less prone to hitting himself and others with them. Kingfisher’s grin widened as they realized what he would want to do.

“Can you show us how to use  _ real _ swords?”

Despite Genichiro’s specification of real swords, Kingfisher was starting the two with wooden _ tantō _ . “I had to start with wooden ones too, but I promise I’ll let you use a real one today.” They had gone through how to stand and the basic slice with the  _ tantō _ ; while Genichiro had tried to drag Kingfisher over to a stand holding katana, they had made the decision that small children did not get to have swords larger than they were. While it wasn’t snowing outside, there was still snow on the ground, so they had found the secret dojo under one of the watch towers to use rather than the colder shinobi quarters or somewhere outside where it was less likely for a servant to walk in.

Genichiro was much more visibly excited to be practicing than Emma was, but Kingfisher was still excited to see Emma concentrating on learning; they had not let go of the idea that Emma could be a good shinobi, or at least a good samurai. They kept the children at the sword drill they and Orangutan had used until both were starting to look tired; they were also easily half a decade younger than when Kingfisher had started training. 

“Okay, come here you two. I promised you’ll get to hold a real sword today.” This was an old  _ kodachi _ , well maintained but not anything frequently used enough someone would notice it had been moved from its stand before it had reaccumulated its thin layer of dust. Genichiro started to reach for it first, hesitated, and offered the opportunity to Emma; Kingfisher had heard Isshin and Gyoubu talking about getting Genichiro to share and was glad their work was paying off. Emma took the sword carefully and drew it how Kingfisher had shown them, holding the scabbard in her other hand, but was not strong enough yet for the weight focused on one arm; the sword almost hit the ground before Kingfisher’s hand was under her arm, supporting it. She sheathed the sword and offered it, both hands holding the sheath out, to Genichiro.

Genichiro took the  _ kodachi _ and unsheathed it, holding the handle with both hands; but he was also still just a child and already tired from practicing. The sword tip dropped to the ground. 

Kingfisher lunged to grab it; any damage would be a sure sign someone had been messing with the sword, and they were Ashina’s swords; as a shinobi they really shouldn’t have been using them, but Kingfisher didn’t have practice  _ tantō _ or any _ kodachi _ . 

They had been in a good place to catch the blade for Emma, but not for Genichiro; when they moved the side of their wrist ended up blocking the blade instead. Orangutan had insisted on wearing paired kote; Kingfisher had laughed and continued only wearing the left side in the old style.  _ I should probably start wearing two _ Kingfisher thought before grabbing the blade with their left hand and carefully placing it down. Genichiro and Emma both were staring wide-eyed at the red spurt on the ground and the blade; Kingfisher smiled at them reassuringly rather than swear at the stinging pain on their wrist. 

“This is probably why your grandad doesn’t want you playing with real swords yet, but I think it’s important to know what can happen. It was just an accident. Let me wrap this up real fast and clean the _ kodachi _ and I think I have some nice paints for us in the shinobi quarters.” 

As they cleaned the blood off the floor there were footsteps approaching; Kingfisher checked to make sure the  _ kodachi _ was safely replaced on the stand and the blood was mostly off the floor before standing to see it was not Isshin or Orangutan, like they had feared, nor a servant or retainer who would tell Isshin what they had been doing; it was Tomoe, who rarely wandered the castle without Lord Takeru. Both generally kept to themselves if they were not talking with Isshin, but Kingfisher treasured every glimpse of this beautiful samurai, inhuman or not. Xe surveyed the room, deep blue eyes flickering around behind xyr mask, then looked down towards Kingfisher. 

“I believe Lord Isshin ordered no sword training until Genichiro is older, yes? If I was mistaken, I would have thought he wanted to carry it out himself.” Xyr voice had strange harmonics to it that sent butterflies in Kingfisher’s stomach. 

“The earlier you start the better, I feel, and it was just wooden  _ tantō _ .” Tomoe pointedly looked down towards the rough bandage on Kingfisher’s arm. “My fault, overestimated myself. We were going to start painting in the shinobi quarters; would you like to join us?” Kingfisher grinned externally like normal but inside started pulling at their hair.  _ Eff- Would you like to join us? Me and a pair of five-year olds? Painting. Wow. What an offer _ . 

Surprisingly, Tomoe nodded, a large movement with xyr long neck. “Happily. Lord Takeru does not require my presence for several hours.” Xe picked up Genichiro as Kingfisher got Emma. Xe then leaned over to whisper to Kingfisher.

“Next time you have the children, I am happy to help supervise. Painting or sword practice.”

“I would be happy for your company.”  _ IT WORKED _ .

“Orangutan, this is the third time you’ve stopped paying attention to stare into space. Do you really think something is wrong?” Isshin had looked away from supervising the handful of workers placing black powder around the bridge foundations to watch the shinobi, alternating between carving a path in the snow and staring off in the direction of Ashina proper. 

“I… I am not sure.” Orangutan rubbed at his beard as he turned back to face Isshin. “The first time Kingfisher watched Emma, I am sure something happened that neither of them told me about, but there hasn’t been anything like that since. Except for that cut Emma got at the gate. They’re probably fine, just-”

“You’re just being over protective, Orangutan. They’ll be fine even with two children to watch. We are almost done here anyway. The bridge will be burning in a few minutes and once we’re sure those monks can’t get back to Ashina we are headed back to the castle.”

Despite Orangutan’s worries, when he and Isshin arrived back in Ashina they found Kingfisher and Tomoe chatting idly in the front room of the shinobi quarters as they watched Emma and Genichiro fingerpaint with what was probably the cheapest paint found in the castle. As Isshin picked up Genichiro and grabbed his blobby painting Orangutan knelt next to Emma to see what she had done. 

“Were you painting all day, Emma?” He kept his voice even but he was looking at Kingfisher out of the corner of his eye; he had not missed the new bandage on their right wrist. As Emma told him what an adventure going to find paints in the small castle had been, Tomoe bid farewell to Kingfisher and followed Isshin and Genichiro back to the main building, nodding politely to Orangutan and waving to Emma. Orangutan nodded back and resumed paying attention to Emma’s story, which was missing several pieces.

After Emma was asleep he put on hand on Kingfisher’s shoulder and walked them back outside the room. He kept his voice quiet, but had a strong enough grip they were stuck talking to him.

“What  _ else _ did you do today, Kingfisher? Emma didn’t tell me when Tomoe joined you and she  _ definitely _ did not tell me how you injured yourself.”

“Orangutan-”

“The truth, please, Kingfisher, don’t try to wiggle your way out of it.” He kept his face blank as they went through several expressions trying to decide what to do; but they had known each other for years and he knew when Kingfisher was lying just as they knew he’d rather hear the truth no matter how bad.

“I had them doing a sword drill with  _ wooden tantō _ Orangutan, don’t make that face. That’s what they wanted to do today.” 

“Hmph.”  _ That is what  _ Genichiro  _ wanted to do today _ Orangutan thought, but let them continue.

“They wanted to hold a real sword, I was not going to let them use it please stop making that face do you think I’m totally incompetent with children? It was a dull old  _ kodachi _ small enough for them to hold, so Genichiro could pretend he’s Isshin for a moment and Emma could pretend she’s you.” That had the desired effect of bringing a smile to Orangutan’s otherwise stony face but his grip did not decrease. “Emma held it for a second and Genichiro held it for a second and he almost dropped it and I nicked my wrist making sure it didn’t hit the ground.” 

“If that’s what they wanted to do today, Kingfisher, and then you started painting, what did they want to do last time, when you were walking around the marketplace in Urasaki Village? Or the time before that, when you were playing hide and seek in the reservoir? The cut on Emma’s leg, at the castle gate? Or the first time I needed you to watch her, when you were watching the rice farmers and you had injured your shoulder?” With every old excuse Kingfisher’s grin became more and more sheepish. 

“That was, um…. Marketplace, Emma wanted to see where we trained, so we went to the Bodhisattva Valley because it’s the safest place we trained at and I know how to get around the Gun Fort. Reservoir, well, you know how she is with snakes and someone who isn’t me, honestly Orangutan, you know I don’t like them, someone told her about the serpent god so she wanted to go into the valley between the outskirts and the castle to see if we could find it and with both of those when we had looked around we found something else to do. First we were going to the castle gate to find it because she insisted, but, well, that didn’t happen, but she didn’t give up so I convinced her to go to the reservoir.” Kingfisher paused for a breath. “The rice farmers, Emma wanted to climb the castle and she’s actually really good at it and we didn’t go up barely at all just she slipped a little and I grabbed her and I hit my shoulder doing that but-”

“You  _ climbed _ the  _ castle _ . With Emma. And she  _ almost fell off _ . And you took her looking for the serpent god? The valley, I know you know how to do that, but what would you do if you found the snake? Did you forget the shed skin we kept finding in the valley? It’s  _ huge _ , Kingfisher, you don’t-”

“I didn’t take her somewhere it goes!” Kingfisher had dropped to a whisper. “I was looking for an excuse to get her to a different part of the castle when we were at the gate, and she stepped on that  _ naginata _ because I was focused on that. I know most of its territory, so when she wanted to try again I convinced her to go to the other side of the reservoir because it was safer and I told her it comes over there too, but it’s not over there! And the castle would have been fine, I just let her get ahead of me a little. She’s going to be a better climber than I am if she practices.”

“Kingfisher-”

“If you’re about to say I’m not allowed to supervise the children by myself anymore Tomoe offered to watch them with me next time, so there.” They raised their eyebrows and easily twisted out of Orangutan’s grasp and back inside. 

“If Isshin finds out you let his grandson hold a sword before he got to, and he didn’t get to watch, you will never know peace from him.”

“If, Orangutan, if.”

* * *

“I haven’t been over here in ages,” Kingfisher was looking around as much as Emma was. The road to Senpou Temple was already beginning to disappear with the bridge gone, but Isshin did not trust the monks and was having Orangutan check occasionally. Gyoubu was on gate duty, Tomoe was out on an errand for Lord Takeru, Dogen was busy with a case of someone new mysteriously coughing blood, and Isshin had taken Genichiro with him to visit his nephew at the Hirata Estates. So Kingfisher was following Orangutan and carrying Emma today to stop any potential castle climbing or serpent god hunting. 

“Stay alert. They might still be crossing somehow.”

“I’m pretty sure you burned their bridge right? Can they fly?”

“I don’t know. That’s why Isshin sent me to check.” He followed the deteriorating road with the confidence of someone who was following it frequently when it could be easily seen; but he was holding his axe, in case they found someone. Kingfisher turned to Emma, who still had not given up perching on their backs, and opened their mouth before Orangutan cut them off. “Don’t start with your whistling finger here, Kingfisher, if there are any monks they’ll run this way. Better to sneak up on them.”

“Always better to sneak up on someone, Emma, then have them sneak up on you.” Emma giggled as Kingfisher pitched their voice down in an attempt to mimic Orangutan. He snorted and continued in front. It was about an hour’s walk to the remains of the bridge; Kingfisher was coaching Emma on climbing a rock formation as Orangutan paced the area and checked underneath. 

Eventually he returned to see Emma clinging to the rock around Kingfisher’s head height, giggling, while they stood ready to catch her if she slipped. They lifted her off the rock and onto the ground as he approached and raised their eyebrows. He just pointed after Emma, who had gone darting into the undergrowth the moment she was down. 

“She probably saw a snake, Orangutan, there aren’t any venomous ones up here.” Kingfisher was gingerly kneeling to find a way after her when Orangutan put a hand on their shoulder and reached over a bush, bringing his arm back holding the back of Emma’s  _ haori _ . As guessed, Emma was holding a snake.

“Emma, put it down. It’s a good snake but it doesn’t want to be outside right now.” Five months of Emma’s reptile obsession had changed Orangutan’s disinterest; now, he was willing to listen to her talk about snakes and lizards as long as she wanted, but she knew he was only willing to listen  _ after she put the reptile down _ . Kingfisher had not had the same level of exposure and had backed away once they were sure Emma was not in danger but was holding a snake.

They headed back to Ashina, snake safely slithering away to a warmer spot underground, as Emma talked about the different head shape this one had versus the others near the castle and Orangutan nodded along. Eventually she ran out of steam and Kingfisher began using their whistling finger; for such a playful personality, the whistle had a low and somber tune, due to their ring. Orangutan enjoyed it, having lived through their time getting the tuning right. Emma watched with wide eyes, since she rarely got to hear it.

Closer to the castle there was a voice. “Kingfisher? Is that you? Oh, Orangutan and Emma, good to see you all.” The strange harmonics marked the voice’s owner as Tomoe even before xe emerged from the brush to the side of the road. Xe was carrying a striped bow and arrows; xyr sword was sheathed. Xe nodded to them as they reached xyr. “I was hoping to find one of you today. I’m looking for a few items for Lord Takeru and I believe one is in the valley. Since you two know the valley best, I was hoping for assistance.”

“Go, Kingfisher, I have to make a report for Lord Isshin.” Orangutan knew his friend wanted to go with the inhuman samurai and had been unsubtly and possibly successfully trying to flirt for months now. He was happy to provide the support needed. Kingfisher grinned at him and waved at Emma before following Tomoe back off the trail; they had taken lead before the two were out of sight, and he heard Kingfisher explaining the valley’s layout as they left. Orangutan checked that Emma was still secure standing on his sheathed  _ ōdachi _ and continued into Ashina proper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, Kingfisher and Orangutan and Dogen, what a trio of oblivious people.
> 
> Tanto, Kodachi, and Odachi are swords; Odachi are the largest, tanto and kodachi are both smaller. You do start practicing with wooden ones, then unsharpened metal, then live blades.
> 
> Kote are arm guards. Roughly around this time period there was a switch being made from just wearing a left one to wearing two. Kingfisher had not made that switch.
> 
> Haori are overcoats, like that orange thing Wolf wears
> 
> Forewarning, everyone: there is a reason that "Major Character Death" tag is present and it's coming next week. So. Y'all have some time to prepare and so do I.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kingfisher is missing.

Orangutan woke up in the shinobi quarters and frowned at the empty space to his right. This was the second night Kingfisher had spent somewhere else; Normally he didn’t mind, but normally Kingfisher let him know if they would be gone a few days. He turned to his left to see Emma still asleep. 

It had been six months since he’d pulled Emma from the battlefield and he was glad to see how quickly she was growing. Not physically; he doubted she’d reach five feet tall. But she was picking up some of his shinobi techniques, moving quietly and, to his dismay, climbing, and she’d figured out the shinobi passageways with almost no instruction. At the same time she had started hanging around Dogen more when she was tired of playing with Genichiro, who liked fake sword fighting more than she did. Dogen said she was picking up more and more of how he treated patients and thought she’d be able to help him if another of his apprentices set out.

As soon as Orangutan began moving around Emma woke up like she normally did. The two headed towards the castle, Orangutan to check in with Isshin and Emma to probably hang around Dogen for the day. The short doctor doted on her, which did not help the crush Orangutan had been trying to deny. 

Unexpectedly Dogen was outside of his operatory, shifting from foot to foot and frowning like he was waiting for someone late. He brightened up a bit when he saw the pair approach and hurried towards them, talking as soon as he could be reasonably heard. 

“Emma! Good to see you my dear, I have some interesting things I’m working on today! Doujun can show you the technique to start. Orangutan,” he leaned close as Emma slid down from her perch and walked into the room towards one of the apprentices, “have you seen Kingfisher recently? They were coming in, yesterday they were supposed to, for me to fix the glove again because it keeps loosening up and they never came. It’s not like them.”

“No, it’s not. They haven’t been in the shinobi quarters the last two nights. I’ll look around. Maybe they’re stuck somewhere, and just need an extra hand.” Orangutan chewed on his lip. “I need to check in with Isshin first. Then I’ll go find them.”

Isshin was talking with Gyoubu Oniwa when Orangutan arrived. Genichiro was not hanging around his grandfather, surprisingly; he must have been begging Tomoe to show off xyr archery skills like he had been recently. Both men turned as Orangutan entered, stopping whatever they had been discussing. The shinobi knelt but Isshin spoke before he could.

“Orangutan, we have nothing needed from you today. Dogen mentioned Kingfisher did not come to see him like normal, and I am sure you are concerned. Go find them! I am sure there will be work waiting when both of you return.” Orangutan nodded and left without having to say a word.

“Isshin…” 

“I know, Gyoubu. He’s always had that shadow in his eyes. I am not needed here today either. You and Tomoe can watch Genichiro today as I watch him. I would rather not lose a talented shinobi to shura if Kingfisher cannot be found.”

Orangutan scowled as he descended back into the valley he and Kingfisher had trained in. They had not been in the outskirts, not even at the old temple hidden back in a valley on the mountain, not underneath the castle in the dungeons, not in any of the surrounding little villages that supplied Ashina Castle with its food. He heard tales of another village deep below Ashina, had heard Tomoe and Takeru talk about it like it was rotting; if he had to he could ask them how to get there, hunting for his wayward partner.

He paused to concentrate. The Sunken Valley Clan did not tolerate the rest of Ashina anyway and he’d have to get through them to get to the valley proper. From there he could check their old stomping grounds and see if they’d been through recently. His skin felt unusually hot and it was uncomfortable; having to stop and adjust his armor in the hope that it was just something rubbing wrong was not helping, nor was the anger tinged with fear rising at the back of his throat. Anger at having spent already a full day hunting for Kingfisher, fear that they were nowhere to be found because they had finally taken on a foe too big, too unpredictable, and the only thing he would find on this hunt was a corpse. 

For all their prowess the riflewomen couldn’t see you traveling far below them, at the mist layer of the valley. Both he and Kingfisher had always taken this route under the Gun Fort rather than fight their way through the sharpshooters. Still, though, he had the suspicion that he should sneak his way back through the fort if Kingfisher was not deeper in the valley. 

It was simple enough to go under and around the Gun Fort without alerting the clan. Standing in the Sunken Valley proper, Orangutan stopped to scan the area he had emerged in. This had been their main base when the two began training; they had sparred all over the valley but this was where they had come back to, and was still where both of them went when they were tired of being around other people.

Kingfisher was not here. 

Kingfisher was not near the bridge, either on the mountainside nor in the lake underneath it; they were not in the Bodhisattva Valley full of broken Buddha statues and monkeys, they were not in the other valley, steeper and more treacherous, that had forcefully taught the two how to splint broken bones; they were not in the Gun Fort or the caves underneath it when he snuck back through. Finally, after the sun had fully set and the moon was halfway up the sky, Orangutan reemerged from the valley on the outskirts of some border village nestled in the forest. He skirted around it, sticking to the trees, when he smelled blood. Much more carefully now, in case it was something hurt and angry, Orangutan turned his back on the village to follow the smell. He had not followed it long when he saw something glittering in the moonlight, laying on the ground. He knelt to pick it up and stopped breathing for a moment.

Kingfisher’s necklace. They’d had it longer than they had known him. They never took it off. Usually it was tucked under their armor. He stared at it for a moment, feeling hotter and hotter, then tucked it into a pouch; for a moment he had been worried the heat from his hand was enough to damage it. Then he continued following the smell.

It wasn’t a clearing. It was just any other patch of forest. Except for the body, face down next to a tree, a blood trail stretching behind, leading away from the village. As Orangutan crept closer he was able to notice that their sword and left hand were both missing before he felt the anger and the fire begin to consume him. And then, everything stopped for Orangutan. There was no Emma, no Dogen, no Isshin, no Ashina; there was Kingfisher’s body, lying in the forest, and the anger, and the fire.

Isshin hoped this village, right on the edge of a forest and the valley, would have Orangutan and Kingfisher. The moon had been rising steadily for three hours now and he was ready to drag both of them back to the castle, hopefully without too many injuries. He saw movement in the trees, up and to his left. Something heading towards the village nearby.

_ One _ something. He started to run.

Orangutan had already drawn his axe by the time Isshin reached him; there was barely time to draw his sword as he dodged to one side. Trying to stop a blow from the heavy axehead would have shattered his sword.

“Orangutan!” No response; the man had always had a shadow in his eyes, but it looked like it was consuming him now. Isshin could smell smoke; as the shinobi swung at him he saw the man’s left arm was the source. He dodged out of the way and circled, watching the shura consuming his friend. He wasn’t gone yet, Isshin hoped; he might be able to snap the shinobi out of it. 

“Orangutan!” Ichimonji was always a good choice to take someone out quickly, but it required more wind up time than the shura would give him. He lunged to try and break Orangutan's wind up then and dodged to one side as the shinobi followed it with a sweep. He opened his mouth to continue trying to talk to the man and let out a yell instead; Orangutan had hit him across the stomach. The axe wasn’t made to cut, Isshin knew; it was for breaking bones or shields. He still felt like he was bleeding, and backed off quickly to try and get some air back into his lungs. 

Orangutan tried another overhead swing; as he wound up, Isshin forced him back with a sweep of his own and managed to start yelling. “What about Emma? Or Dogen? Will you leave them to let the shura take over?” He dodged around the blow as he spoke, and saw the split second opening as Orangutan flinched before preparing for another large swing. He lunged forward, brought his blade down, and watched as a left arm fall with it. 

Orangutan let out a yell, which was reassuring; the shura hadn’t made any noise. He grabbed at the stump that remained of his left arm as he fell to his knees; if the shura was still there it was not taking over anymore. Isshin sheathed his sword before letting the sword and sheath drop on the ground so he could use the  _ obi _ as a makeshift tourniquet. It was pulled from his hands suddenly, and he recognized Dogen as the small form pushing him out of the way to stem the bleeding. He looked back and winced; Emma had been with Dogen and was standing back, eyes wide. He knelt and offered a hand to her; she stared at him for a moment, before launching herself into his chest, crying. He hugged her as Dogen worked by the moonlight. Carefully, still holding her, he worked his  _ jinbaori _ off his shoulders and crudely tied it off to put some pressure on the shallow cut on his stomach. The axe had broken his  _ dō _ but hadn’t left a large cut, though the bruise would probably cover his stomach. The cut burned but he hoped it would be alright; he had too much else to worry about to die from infection.

Wound cared for as much as currently possible, Isshin looked towards the forest as he comforted Emma. He decided that whatever was out there was going to have to wait until the next day. He looked back in alarm as Dogen sighed, but the short doctor gave him a worried smile.

“He should live if we get him back now. Just be careful not to jostle the arm.” Dogen took the softly crying Emma so Isshin could pull Orangutan onto his shoulder and the four began the walk back to Ashina Castle.

Isshin took a pair of men with him the next day as he returned to the village. The three of them searched the forest for barely a half an hour when one of them saw the blood and followed it to the body.

“Probably dead since day before last, Lord Isshin.” He kept his voice quiet. “Hand’s gone, something nasty got their stomach too. Too much blood loss. It can’t have been that far away, but I doubt it hung around if it wasn’t hunting for food. It must have been big, though.”

This was not a problem Isshin needed. Dogen had smeared something that stung like mad on his stomach cut as soon as he thought Orangutan was stable. The man had not woken up by the time Isshin had left for this. He did not want to worry about something big that had killed a good shinobi. Isshin rubbed the back of his neck in thought.

“Have all the villages in the area shoot off fireworks as soon as it is dark. I know we have more in the castle, send men who know how to handle them safely around. Tonight, if possible, tomorrow if we have to. Hopefully whatever it is will run. Watches, too, in these villages, in case it comes back so we can get the men up and ready. You, go, get them started on that. You, help me with them. Back to the castle.”

Orangutan woke up to pain and heat and almost immediately a voice urging him to drink- something. Something that tasted vaguely like sake but mostly bitter. It felt like hours until the pain started to subside, though it was probably a few minutes; the heat did not go away. He opened his eyes again and Dogen was crouching next to him, looking worried. 

He looked away and found Emma asleep to his right side. He wasn’t sure if Dogen had piled the blankets up for her to sleep on or if she had gone around the room collecting them herself. He looked back to Dogen.

“Isshin… he’s alright? I thought…” he tried to clench his fists but only felt one; he looked to his left and saw the arm was gone a few inches above his elbow. Dogen’s voice drew his attention back before he could dwell on it.

“Isshin will be fine, you gave him a shallow cut on his stomach and a huge bruise, just enough to stop his more strenuous activities for a few weeks, not enough to kill him. He cut your arm off last night.” Orangutan nodded and closed his eyes again for a minute. Dogen was still hovering over him when he opened them.

“Kingfisher is dead.” 

“Yes. Isshin went out this morning and brought them back. We decided to wait until you were awake to do more than that. He’s had men coming and going from the castle all day; they’re going to have the villages along the forest setting off fireworks tonight, to drive off… whatever did it. No one is sure what.”

Orangutan was silent for a few minutes. Dogen waited; he was upset, having lost a good friend, but knew Orangutan and Kingfisher were very close, and he was also nervous. Orangutan wasn’t in danger of death from blood loss anymore and he could see a shadow in the man’s eyes. It had probably always been there, but it was more noticeable after he had attacked Isshin. 

Dogen had only heard of shura before; they were rare enough he had never seen someone afflicted. Isshin hadn’t thought the shinobi would still be a danger, not if he hadn’t managed to kill anyone under the shura’s influence, but Dogen had no experience with this. He trusted Isshin, trusted his judgement, and trusted his friend, but he had watched Orangutan try to break Isshin open last night and the memory was difficult to erase.

Emma had started wailing last night when he tried to move her away, so she had gotten to stay next to Orangutan in this small room off his main patient room, but if the shura came back despite Isshin’s assurance, Dogen was going to grab her and try to get her out. He doubted he’d last any longer than doing that took. His worries were cut off when Orangutan started pushing himself to his feet.

“Lay back down. You lost a lot of blood and you’re in no position to get up. Right now Orangutan, do not make me fight a patient today.”  _ Please don’t make me die trying to fight you _ was the quick, shameful little thought before Orangutan listened to him and laid back down. 

“You said Isshin went and found them. Where is Kingfisher?”

“One of the spare rooms near the moat. The ones no one wants to sleep in until summer time because they’re always cold. They will be okay there for now. You should go back to sleep.”

“We can’t leave them there until I’m healed, Dogen.”

“We won’t. But you just lost your arm. Go back to sleep.”

“Why were you out there?” Orangutan’s memories, tinged red, were coming back slowly. He frowned at the doctor.

“We… I thought, if Kingfisher hasn’t been back, something’s wrong, so they’ll need a doctor, but we didn’t know where you went, but we saw Isshin leave so we decided to follow him, and, well, probably saved your life.” Dogen frowned at the still sleeping Emma. “She refuses to take ‘no’ for an answer when she’s set on something, as I’m sure you’ve found. I asked her to watch Doujun and went to leave, and she followed me. I physically gave her to Doujun and I think she bit him before she caught up with me.” 

“That sounds like Emma.” Orangutan grinned slightly, but it didn’t last. He stared into space for a few minutes before suddenly patting at his clothing with his remaining hand. Before Dogen could ask Orangutan pulled a necklace out of a pouch Dogen had forgotten to remove; he held the center, a goldish cylinder, in his hand before attempting to put it on. Dogen had to help with the clasps. 

“They never took it off. Said it was bad luck for someone not to wear it.” Orangutan said quietly. “I guess…. I’ll wear it, now.”

“Sleep, Orangutan, they’ll still be there when you wake up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodbye, Kingfisher.
> 
> All Wolf found from the Guardian Ape was the whistling finger; I think it had preservatives of some kind, while the rest of their hand was digested.
> 
> I didn't realize this until a few days ago rereading but Kingfisher was probably going after the Lotus for Tomoe, and wasn't expecting the ape to get back up after they got their sword stuck in its neck.
> 
> An obi is a belt; what Wolf uses to hold Kusabimaru's sheath? That's an obi.
> 
> A jinbaori is like a coat; the thing Genichiro has, that has Ashina's crest on his back? That's a jinbaori.
> 
> A do is a breastplate.


	7. Chapter 7

The funeral was small, and quiet. Beyond Isshin, Dogen and Gyoubu neither Orangutan nor Kingfisher had dealt with the Ashina retainers that much, though Takeru and Tomoe had attended. Orangutan was not allowed to bury their ashes in the valley for the next few weeks; Dogen was worried about complications from his missing arm, especially when he reported it had started to occasionally feel like it was burning; Isshin wouldn’t say so out loud but was worried about something causing the shura to return. Now that Orangutan had given into it once, he was worried something could bring it back. 

Orangutan spent most of his time recuperating playing with Emma. He was glad she was used to perching on his back to travel around quickly; with one arm it was harder to carry her. 

One month after Kingfisher died, Dogen came to the small room he had taken over outside of the main castle. He had been giving Orangutan space to grieve, but also did not want his friend isolating himself. Orangutan couldn’t sleep in the shinobi quarters anymore, and Isshin was having the group of shinobi he was training specifically to guard the rooftops of the castle move in to the building. Dogen picked up Emma and hugged her as she ran over, then sat down across from Orangutan as she returned to her toys.

“I… hm.” Knowing Dogen, he had probably been going over this conversation for the past week and as soon as he wanted to begin he had forgotten all the particulars he wanted to bring up. He decided to press on anyway. “I think I could make a prosthetic for your missing arm. I know you aren’t sure if you want to continue as a shinobi but if you’re already used to two hands I thought it would be more useful to have two hands again and-”

“Alright, Dogen, I’ll accept. Any excuse so you can work on a new mechanism.” Despite everything, despite the heat that had never gone away after that night, despite Kingfisher’s death and the hole they left, the crush on Dogen had not gone away. Just being near him was sending Orangutan’s stomach fluttering and it annoyed him. 

“It- it isn’t that, well not just that, I do want to help, just regrowing limbs isn’t really possible unless I’m really missing something though thinking about it there is a specific kind of grass-” Orangutan laughed.

“Dogen, please, go ahead! I just have a favor to ask of you.” Orangutan had been thinking about this as well. He knew more about shura than Dogen did, and knew that once it had been accepted it was incredibly difficult to lose; realistically the best he could hope for was that it would be delayed. He glanced to the side to make sure Emma was still playing. “Adopt Emma.”

“Adop- Emma?  _ Your _ Emma, your dau-”

“Officially, she’s an orphan. I think Isshin needs to approve it, or a retainer. Listen, Dogen.” He glanced over; Emma was still playing with her toys. “What if the shura comes back? We don’t know if it will, or when. This is not safe for her, and we have both seen what can happen if she becomes a shinobi. Or a samurai. I do not want that for Emma. You’ve said she is picking up medicine just by watching you; as a doctor, she would be safe. Adopt her, and keep her safe.”

Dogen had been staring at Emma since Orangutan had asked his favor. He was biting his lip similar to how Orangutan would when he was unsure. He looked Orangutan in the eyes.

“You’re sure?”

“She is not safe with me anymore, Dogen. Not unless you know a way to remove a shura.”

“Then… yes. I will happily take Emma as my daughter and if I’m lucky Ashina might have me as a footnote when recording her life as the best doctor in the land.” Orangutan laughed.

“I hope I’m still here to see it. I’m staying in this area for now, Dogen, I will tell her. Do you need me at your workshop tomorrow morning if you’re going to start on the arm, or do you want me to wait until she’s winning awards?”

“I can take the measurements I need now, I brought what I needed for that. It’ll take a few days to have a prototype put together. She… I’ll take her with me tomorrow. But remember, Orangutan,” his face was not made to look serious; the effect was further ruined because he was trying not to smile. “No matter what is down on paper you are still Emma’s father. One of two, now. You do not get to give up a place in her life, shura or not. And if you ask me to keep her away from you, you are asking me to be bit every single day I try and  _ still _ have her come to you.”

“I know, Dogen. I don’t want to stop seeing her forever. I just want her to be safe. Now, before you leave.” Orangutan had brought the slightly emptier pack full of silk to these new quarters, and pulled it out of place next to a chest. He had been selling what he needed to, to get clothing and occasionally toys from one of the marketplaces, but the pack had been very full and he hadn’t made much of a dent. “This is to help raise her. Children are expensive.”

“How long have you had that?”

“Since I found her. Shinobi don’t get paid well enough to raise a child. In Ashina, a doctor probably isn’t, either.”

“True. Alright. That pack is for Emma’s use only, then. I can put it somewhere to stop the apprentices getting into it. Let me get these measurements and I’ll be back tomorrow, for her and for that.”

“Emma?” The sun had gone down and she was curling up on the pallet he had found for her; it was still covered in blankets stolen from the shinobi quarters. She looked up and answered before he had a chance to continue.

“Are you sending me to Dogen?”  _ She had been listening _ . Orangutan hadn’t been sure.

“We don’t think it’s safe for you to be around me now. You like Dogen, and he can teach you how to help people like he does.”

“Is this because you lost your arm?” She kept her eyes on him. It broke his heart how much she had matured in the month since that had happened. She had been having more nightmares since then, too.

“It’s part of it. Don’t think you’ll never see me again, now. I’m sticking around. Dogen wants me nearby because he wants to make a fake arm for me.”

“He said he couldn’t just grow it back yet.” Emma looked away, thinking. “Does he think there’s a way to grow arms back that he just can’t do?”

“He doesn’t know yet, but if anyone can figure it out, I think it’s him or it’s you.”

“I will.” He recognized the determination, though usually it was devoted to grabbing a snake that had just hidden itself. “I’ll figure it out.”

“In the morning, then, Emma dear.”

* * *

“Is it supposed to fit like this?” Orangutan held his left arm out, prosthetic tipping downwards slightly. Dogen was frowning. 

“No. No it is not. Where did I go wrong on this?” It had taken a little over a week for the prosthetic to get to the point where Orangutan could try it, slowed both by Dogen trying to get it to do more than what a prototype should do and by him multitasking with convincing his apprentices to accept Emma as a learner, despite being ten to twenty years younger than the rest of them, and teaching her what she needed to know if she was helping him. She had jumped into medicine with the enthusiasm she used for reptiles, though Dogen was making sure she was supervised at all times and did not want her actually working with his patients yet.

“I think… more of a support around your upper arm, and a better fit to your arm is essential, probably with fabric between you and the prosthetic. Maybe if I carved wood-”

“It’s a prototype, Dogen, you’re just making sure it fits right now. Save the aesthetics for later.” Orangutan felt his stomach fluttering as Dogen, adjusting the prototype, leaned his head on Orangutan’s chest to get at an awkwardly placed knot. Then he heard footsteps and turned his head to see Isshin, wearing an open  _ haori _ and no shirt like normal, heading their way. He had seen him only briefly since Kingfisher’s funeral and burying their ashes in the valley, which Isshin had insisted on helping him do. Tomoe had accompanied the two, not talking much. Xe and Takeru had put a hold on whatever task they had been on, and divided their time between being near the fast growing tree Takeru had planted in the castle and finally exploring Ashina’s villages. Isshin was carrying a different sword, which was slightly jarring; Orangutan had only known him to use one, a sword with a lotus flower around the hilt, representing his clan. Thinking about it, Orangutan realized he hadn’t seen that blade since he lost his arm.

“Lord Isshin, good morning.”

“Good morning, Orangutan, Dogen, Emma. Good to see you’re already starting on the prosthetic.” Dogen gave a guilty smile in response to Orangutan’s look as his train of thought derailed. Of course Dogen had cleared this with Isshin, if only to make sure he wouldn’t be ordered to stop half way through. 

“This one isn’t going to work at all, I’m afraid, but I know what improvements I need to make and what I want it to do and I think I know what materials I’ll need.” 

“Orangutan, could I have a word once Dogen gets that thing off of you?” Isshin strolled a little ways away after Orangutan nodded. Dogen and Emma remained next to the workshop as Orangutan followed him, Dogen already working on the next iteration of the prototype, Emma playing with a toy.

“You asked Dogen to adopt Emma.” Orangutan had thought this would be about him possibly falling to shura totally, but he was glad to talk about Emma instead.

“She will be safer with him. She understands. Better a doctor than a shinobi, anyway.” Both men were silent for a moment, thinking about finding Emma how they had found Kingfisher. Orangutan rubbed his eyes and sighed. “Much better to be a doctor.” 

“Are you planning on leaving Ashina? I know Kingfisher was the reason you came out of the valley to here, and now that Emma is with Dogen-”

“No.” The abruptness of his response would have startled Orangutan just a few months ago, when he wanted to travel and see the rest of Japan; but his priorities had changed. “No, I’m staying here. She would never forgive me for leaving. And knowing Dogen he’ll still be working on the prosthetic until the day before one of us dies.”

“True. Good.” Isshin grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t think I’ll let you sit around and waste away drinking sake if you’re staying. I still need someone keeping an eye on Senpou Temple or  _ I _ will have to do it.” Isshin started to turn, then something seemed to occur to him and he looked back at Orangutan with a grin. “One armed Orangutan, hm? How about Sekijo?” He laughed at the look he got and walked back to the castle as Orangutan rejoined Dogen and Emma.

* * *

“You have to  _ practice _ with it Orangutan, you can not just expect it to be perfect immediately.”

“The old one-”

“Also couldn’t do most of what you do without training so go practice with this one, it needs it.”

Orangutan hmphed at Dogen but nodded and carefully drew his sword; his axe had been lost when Isshin cut his arm off, and no one had been able to find it. After the first two iterations of the prosthetic he had dragged several stands over to Dogen’s workshop for practicing. This arm at least would grip his sword; the first one had done exactly nothing except look vaguely similar to a normal arm and make Dogen swear under his breath when Orangutan made the movements he asked for and nothing happened. The second through fifth ones could grip but any pressure he put on them opened that grip immediately and he’d almost dropped his sword. This one held steady for a few test cuts before his left arm began to flare with pain and he lowered the sword; unfortunately, that was how he found the problem with the prototype.

“Dogen, this one isn’t letting go.”

“Keep holding the sword please, I’m sure it’s the ro- okay it’s not the rope connecting there, the mechanism in the wrist? No, not that either, let me check this one…” he trailed off into barely audible muttering as he checked pieces and tightened something before loosening it again and removing a different piece. Orangutan smiled at Emma, watching from the chair outside the workshop, trying to distract himself from how close Dogen was, then froze as he processed what she was holding. 

“Dogen, Emma has-”

“It’s a stuffed snake, Orangutan, I had some free time a few nights ago and a sheet too worn out to make bandages of.”

“If you say so. Your mechanisms must be getting better, and the quality of sheets you get, since it’s moving and green.”

“Wha- Emma! That’s an actual snake Emma dear where did you- oh thank you Orangutan.” As the doctor had panicked Orangutan walked over and carefully removed the snake from her hands with his good arm; the prosthetic was still locked around his  _ ōdachi _ . He walked over to a far corner of the area and released it, the snake slithering away as soon as it touched the ground. 

“Emma, where is the toy I made you last night? Wouldn’t you rather hold that than an actual snake that can bite?”

“She’d rather hold the real thing.” Orangutan responded, rubbing at his stump, as Emma chimed in with “No.” Dogen gave him a frantic look; he knew about Emma’s love of reptiles but had never been present when she went about actually picking them up. 

“None of the snakes around here are venomous, Dogen, you can relax. The worst that’ll happen is she’ll get a better appreciation of how dangerous they can be.”

“I wasn’t going to teach her how to handle animal bites this soon but maybe I should.” Dogen was frowning slightly as Emma hugged the snake plush she had been sitting on. “Emma, we should go back to the operatory. Do you want to learn how to treat snake bites today?”

“...Dogen, do you want this arm back, or is this the final version?” He smiled as Dogen turned around, ears crimson, and wordlessly handed him Emma before resuming his attempts to force the prosthetic to release the sword.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapting to life as it is now.
> 
> (Are both of these adult men oblivious to the other having a crush on them? Yep.)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orangutan has started carving, but he's still being sent to Senpou Temple.

“What are you doing?” Emma pulled herself onto Orangutan’s lap, forcing him to move his arms out of the way. He looked up to see Dogen waving and rushing away; some injury he didn’t want her to see yet at his operatory, probably. Orangutan was always happy to see her.

“I’m making something out of this block of wood, Emma. It’s called carving.” Dogen had told him he needed to practice using seemingly endless prosthetics by doing more than just practicing his sword work, and suggested trying something he didn’t already know how to do to stop his frustration. He’d noticed he was feeling hotter after struggling with his sword and the various prosthetics and had readily agreed, but hadn’t told anyone. 

“Can you make me something?” 

“Yes, Emma, but I need you to sit over here. I don’t want to cut you on accident. How about a spinning top?”

“What is that?” Orangutan had seen people carve tops before, generally a bored merchant waiting for a customer, and had a rough idea of how to go about it. Emma watched as he cut a point onto a round branch and started carving off pieces to make a small handle.

“Here. Let’s try this.” That had been easier than he thought; this prosthetic wasn’t perfect, but it could hold when he needed it to and would release when he wanted, generally. The top spun for three seconds and fell over. Orangutan scowled but Emma burst out laughing, causing him to start laughing as well.

“I think the point needs to be a little more even. Maybe it will spin longer.” He started working on another as Emma started trying to get the top to spin longer. The next one wouldn’t spin, but the third one stayed up for a solid ten seconds before it fell over. He had figured out a good way to whittle down the handle by the time Dogen reappeared to collect Emma. Now that the prosthetics fit better he was having Orangutan keep them, just improving the one he was wearing while working on the next version.

“See, you’re getting the hang of this quickly! How’s this one working?”

“It’s getting better. I’ll keep practicing with it.” If carving toys for Emma was what got him to practice he’d be happy to do so; she had gathered all of the tops he’d carved in the few hours she was with him. 

“That was… not a good situation, thank you for watching her with no notice.” Dogen did not want to elaborate on what had happened, which was fine with Orangutan. Some of Dogen’s doctor stories veered into territory that turned Orangutan’s stomach; when he started telling them as drinking stories Orangutan threw up half the time. 

“You know she’s always welcome with me, Dogen. I’ll keep working at this.” Dogen nodded and smiled at him before heading back to the main body of the castle, holding Emma’s hand not currently full of spinning tops. Orangutan watched them leave, realizing probably a minute too late he was wearing that dopey smile Kingfisher had occasionally teased him about. His smile sad now, he returned to carving for the rest of the night.

* * *

Orangutan paused for a moment before knocking on the door. He had to report his latest findings from Senpou Temple to Isshin, and the servant he asked had said Isshin was in Genichiro’s quarters; he didn’t like intruding on the two Ashina lord’s time together unless specifically invited.

Hearing a higher pitched giggle made him realize Emma must have been inside as well; he hadn’t seen her for a few days. He knocked, and announced who he was when asked, then came inside as Dogen, smiling quietly, opened it for him.

Emma was playing with some of the tops he had carved for her, as Dogen was sewing what was probably a larger snake toy. Isshin was sitting on the floor next to them, currently shirtless, though with Isshin it was more noteworthy when his entire chest was covered. Genichiro was sitting in his lap, enthusiastically asking about the stretch marks that covered most of Isshin’s back and shoulders. Orangutan nodded when Isshin glanced at him; an invitation to take his time with an explanation. He sat down next to Emma, who immediately began showcasing her skills with getting some of his first tops to spin longer than ten seconds. He half heard Isshin’s conversation; Genichiro seemed to think his grandfather had stripes like a tiger and was very excited about the idea that he might get similar stripes. Eventually Isshin reached over to tap Orangutan on the shoulder.

“Sekijo, I’m guessing no actual news from those degenerates?” Genichiro had gotten up and looked like he was pretending to stalk Dogen, who was smiling but pretending not to notice. Emma was still playing with the tops. 

“Nothing new, Lord Isshin. I did not see anyone this time, but the activity around the main temple seems to have slowed down.”

“Good. Maybe there was a disagreement and they thinned their own numbers for us. We can hope.” Isshin straightened up and started looking around for the  _ haori _ he had discarded when Genichiro started asking about his stretch marks. As Genichiro pounced on Dogen, startling both the doctor, who had been focusing on a tricky section of his project and forgotten Genichiro was there, and Emma, who hadn’t seen him, Orangutan decided to ask a question he had been wondering about. 

“Lord Isshin… what happened to your sword? The one with the lotus guard?” He got a sharp look as Isshin seemed to debate his response; behind him, Emma decided to deal with being frightened by throwing herself as Genichiro and Dogen started trying to drag her off.

“It… reacted, strangely, to vanquishing a shura. I took it to the shrine near the valley, and asked the shrine maiden to look at it.”

“Why to the-”

“It’s not as important as you think it is, Sekijo. I can’t use the blade right now, regardless, so it can be at the shrine.” Orangutan accepted the deflection and turned back to Dogen, who was trying to lecture Emma and Genichiro about not leaping onto people as both of them were completely not paying attention.

* * *

Orangutan almost swore when he saw the  _ naginata _ wielding monk running to join his fellow. He had dealt with several monks who used the same weapons, and knew they liked to jump around and take advantage of their longer reach. Shuriken were fantastic for knocking them flat on the ground and ready for an axe to break their ribs but he didn’t have his axe anymore and he couldn’t throw shuriken with the prosthetic arm. 

He ran his sword through the bare handed monk that had started this fight, on the Senpou side of the burned bridge. Isshin still didn’t trust the monks, and now that he was doing better Orangutan was being sent every other week to check on the bridge. This was not the first time he had wandered over to check the temple ground themselves; he knew how to get to the base of the valley easily and climbing back up had never been an issue before he got the prosthetic arm. 

He dodged under the first swing of the  _ naginata _ and hit the monk hard enough he lost his footing; then it was simple enough to run him through, as well. No one else appeared to have heard the commotion, which Orangutan was distractedly glad for; he had felt his skin starting to heat up with every blow. He glanced at the prosthetic and saw trickle of smoke that almost immediately dissipated, and grimaced. Every time he thought he was back to normal something happened to remind him this was normal, now. He just had to be careful. 

He dragged the bodies into some bushes and continued working his way around the outer part of the path. He couldn’t get in to the main grounds of the temple; too many people were there. He was worried that he was hearing children’s voices, but from this far away it was difficult to tell. There were no new bodies scattered around from the last visit, at least, so he carefully returned to the underside of the bridge and began his slow descent. 

“Shuriken with this thing. A grappling hook too, maybe, if Isshin is going to keep sending me this way.” He muttered to himself as he climbed down. This prosthetic could grip as needed but he was unwilling to trust his weight to it fully until it didn’t feel like it was about to slide off the cliffside. His climbing speed had easily been cut in half, if not more; a grappling hook, to speed this back up, shuriken in case he had to deal with the _naginata_ wielding monks again… he kept going over what might be useful to add to the arm as he crossed onto the Ashina cliffside and began ascending. Dogen might make a face about the extra work, but he was always happy to tinker and improve the prosthetic and this was just giving him something more to do. 

After half an hour or searching and being sent in the wrong direction several times Orangutan found Isshin in Dogen’s operatory. He suppressed his annoyance at deciding to report to Isshin like a good shinobi before finding Dogen and walked inside, before stopping abruptly as Emma ran over and hugged his leg. Isshin didn’t acknowledge his presence at all, focused on what Dogen was doing. Looking towards them as he knelt to hug Emma back, Orangutan saw Dogen was stitching a wound on Genichiro’s leg. Isshin was talking to him quietly, holding one hand and the opposite shoulder, trying to keep his focus off what Dogen was doing. 

He brought Emma over to a corner of the operatory that did not have one of the handful of currently injured soldiers or one of Dogen’s apprentices sleeping in it and started asking about the past two days since he had seen her. Isshin stood up as she was finishing her explanation of how to treat a sword cut- apparently she had treated a soldier under Doujun’s supervision, and Dogen had not been very happy with the senior apprentice. Even with as quickly as she had started learning, he thought about five was far too young to start actually treating patients, especially since she couldn’t reach most of the ointments or bandages used.

“Sekijo, I didn’t hear you come in. Genichiro was out with Tomoe earlier on the training ground and one of the soldiers wasn’t paying attention.” Orangutan almost did a double take; he had never heard Isshin this angry. “Gyoubu is talking about basic sword safety with him and I told Jinsuke to figure out a punishment when he came by. I can’t have someone executed even if he injured my grandson apparently.” Genichiro was already trying to wiggle out of Isshin’s grasp; injured leg or no, he preferred walking to being carried. 

“Genichiro, Dogen will have my head if I let you walk on that leg right after he treated your cut. What did you find at Senpou?” This was directed at Orangutan; Genichiro was pouting but had stopped trying to break free from his grandfather’s grasp. Emma had taken advantage of Orangutan’s distraction to climb onto his lap; Isshin waved him to stay where he was when he glanced down. 

“If they are still crossing into Ashina it isn’t through any route we know of; I ran into a pair of monks, but most of them are on the main temple grounds. I can’t sneak in there without leaving a blood trail in my wake, and they will know we are keeping an eye on them if I do that. It sounds like there are a lot of people there, and there have been some reports of people going missing from the villages near Mount Kongo, so it may be a good idea to have guards posted.”

Isshin sighed. “We may be stretched too thin. I’ll send Shume over to train the villagers how to defend themselves, see about having any retired soldiers setting up watches, but we’re starting to get threats from the south again and my men are needed there, too, in case someone decides to act on them. I will decide if we need to do more than send Shume. Thank you, Orangutan.” And with that, he left with Genichiro, who waved to Emma as he was carried off. Emma waved back before turning to Dogen, who had been listening to the conversation once he cleaned up the blood. 

“Dogen, I had an idea about the prosthetic on my way back.” Orangutan saw the doctor’s eyes widen slightly and him smile as he walked over, dodging the sleeping soldiers and now half awake apprentices. 

“I could possibly make some alterations to how it looks, I’ve been thinking about working on the fine motor control since I know it’s useless for tying knots right now but I would need to tinker with it more to get to that point.” He paused; Orangutan was also smiling, waiting for him to finish. “Is none of that what you were thinking?” 

“A grappling hook. Every time I go to Senpou Temple now I have to climb up and down the cliffs and it takes twice as long as it used to. And possibly being able to throw shuriken? One of the monks I ran into earlier jumps around a lot, and being able to knock him out of the air would have helped.” He watched the expressions play out on Dogen’s face and realized Isshin was not going to approve of making the prosthetic to handle combat, especially not if he told him about the heat coming back. If Isshin noticed the modifications to the prosthetic, of course; he was preoccupied now with Genichiro’s injury and had been focused recently with possible aggression in the south and the threat that trading routes were going to be cut off. It could take a few months before he realized they had done anything, and hopefully Orangutan could show it was helpful by then.

“A grappling hook and shuriken. I think I can do that; but I’ll have to throw out the half finished one I have, I don’t think that will take the strain needed, I’d have to use… iron, I think, as a core, maybe with a covering because it the whole thing is iron it will be much too heavy if it has to lift itself and a person…” Dogen trailed off in thought. Before he had a chance to continue, Orangutan broke in.

“It can wait for tomorrow, at least, Dogen. Have you gone into the outskirts with Emma recently? I’m sure she wants to go snake hunting.” Emma almost leapt out of his lap at the mention of snakes, so Dogen didn’t have much choice; they spent the rest of the afternoon supervising her snake hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those naginata monks suck and I won't deal with them if I don't have to.
> 
> As far as I and my stories are concerned Isshin and Genichiro had a good relationship until Genichiro decided the ends justify the means to save Ashina.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adding a grappling hook to the prosthetic, then dealing with the shura still being present.

Orangutan made the throwing motion with his arm again and missed the tree branch for the third time. He glared at the grappling hook as it retracted back into the prosthetic rather than look at Dogen and have him talk about practicing with it again. It had taken four iterations of the grappling hook to get to the point where it would reliably go out and retract; supposedly it could drag him onto the tree branch he was aiming for but he had never been able to get it to that point. 

“Maybe… pretend you’re throwing a shuriken? I know that’s not an overarm throw. It shouldn’t need a lot of force, I thought I fixed that issue with this one.” Dogen was working on a different one already. He had figured out the basics with the grappling hook during the past two months but was still figuring out how to make it throw shuriken. Orangutan hmphed at him and tried it, then let out a yelp when it caught and dragged him onto the tree branch. Dogen had jumped to his feet, prosthetic in progress abandoned, and ran over. 

“Are you okay?”

“Just startled, is all. When you said this thing would be able to pull me up I should have trusted you.” The hook has disengaged from the branch as soon as the rope had gone slack and finished winding itself into its spot atop the arm. He carefully jumped back onto the ground and walked back to his starting position. 

“Dogen, get out of the way, I don’t want to hit you. But you said I have to practice with it and I’d like to not knock the wind out of myself every time I use it.” He waited as Dogen returned to the abandoned prosthetic and then swung again and missed. The second throw hit the branch again, but this time Orangutan was ready and ended up standing on the branch rather than hitting it with his stomach and pulling himself up. 

“When you two said ‘watch Emma, we’re going to be in the outskirts most of today’ I will admit, this is not anywhere near what I thought you two would be doing.” Isshin had crossed the bridge connecting the castle and the rest of the outskirts and walked over. Dogen frowned for a minute before blushing; Orangutan just glared; he was suddenly planning the best way to convince Emma to release a snake into Isshin’s quarters. 

“I notice Emma is not actually with you, Lord Isshin.” Orangutan jumped down from the branch again and turned to fully face the Ashina Lord. “Did you give her and your grandson to Gyoubu?”

“Takeru and Tomoe, actually. They have been here almost a year and they are finally starting to settle in. What’s this you’ve added to the prosthetic?” That was directed at Dogen, who had gathered up his tools and joined them. 

“A grappling hook, Lord Isshin. So it’s easier to get to Senpou Temple and back, he won’t have to climb up and down the cliffsides. It needs some work still, I think, but it should function even with how tall Orangutan is.” 

“Did I authorize that?”

“Um… maybe? You’ve been very busy recently, and I’ve had more injuries in the past few weeks from border conflicts though my apprentices are doing very well, and-”

“So no. You decided to do this yourself.”

“I asked him to, Lord Isshin. It takes too long to climb up and down the cliffs around Mount Kongo with only one good arm. What should take a few hours ends up taking all day.” Orangutan got the full force of a one-eyed glare; but he knew Isshin wouldn’t be happy about adding more than a normal arm’s abilities to the prosthetic when he asked Dogen. He held his stance. “If I can get there faster I can spend more time looking around before I have to turn around or risk making my way back in the dark.”

This made Isshin blink and look away. “You’re right, I suppose, but I hope we don’t all regret it.” He said quietly, before starting to turn back to the castle. “I came to let you know Emma and Genichiro were insisting on a ‘sleep-over,’ apparently one of them picked the idea up from somewhere and they roped me in so they’ll be in my quarters overnight. You two are free to keep… practicing for the evening.” He left a little more quickly than he should have, as Dogen blushed again and looked down and Orangutan resumed planning a snake invasion in Isshin’s rooms. 

After Isshin was on the other side of the bridge Orangutan returned to his spot and managed to grapple back up to the tree branch as Dogen sat back down next to the bridge. Neither said anything for the next hour or so as Orangutan continued practicing and Dogen kept working on the next prosthetic, until the light began to fade and they made their way back to the castle.

* * *

“Dogen, what is that?” Orangutan pointed at a new piece attached at where his wrist would be on this prosthetic. He had insisted they pause working on it for the next week; the country was celebrating its first year free and since neither Emma nor Genichiro knew when their birthday was, they were celebrating on the same day, and all of it made for a hectic time at the castle. Dogen had insisted on Orangutan getting the newest prosthetic before that happened.

“I know you just wanted to be able to throw shuriken with that arm, but I thought, why stop there? I should be able to attach anything you find and want to use to that, though I want to make it easy enough you could attach something new on the go.” Dogen frowned for a moment. “Isshin probably won’t be pleased but the worst that will happen is I have to remove it again.” 

Dogen turned to grab some of his tools as he finished adjusting this prosthetic and Orangutan felt a flash of guilt. He was still getting what he thought now were flashes of the shura trying to come back when he was fighting; he hadn’t told Dogen or Isshin about it yet, despite it being several months. He wondered, briefly, if he should, but the worry of Dogen’s disappointment persuaded him not to. The doctor had tackled each new issue with the series of prosthetic arms almost with glee; with the frustrating reappearance of patients coughing blood for seemingly no reason, he needed something that gave him a sense of accomplishment. 

After Dogen finished his adjustments Orangutan thanked him and left, headed back to his new quarters along the wall, and resumed carving a snake he was making for Emma and a tiger he had started for Genichiro, but he found he couldn’t concentrate. The worry about the shura kept coming back. After ten minutes of sitting, staring at one of his carving tools, he suddenly decided to carve a Buddha statue; it wouldn’t have to be perfect, but it was something he could do without the added worry of ruining one of the birthday gifts. He settled, and focused on what he thought it should look like, and started carving.

Halfway through Orangutan realized he felt physically cooler than he had since he woke up after losing his arm. Something about carving the Buddha helped him calm down and quieted the shura. He carefully put it to the side and began working on the tiger, and the heat did not come back for a few hours. 

* * *

It had taken almost as little time as before he’d lost his left arm to get to the Senpou Temple grounds this time. Orangutan was careful not to celebrate the grappling hook’s success too much; he had more time to look around now, and he still had to use it to get back. Dogen had put together a neat little device that held shuriken and fixed it to the prosthetic; he had been able to hit a target fairly reliably for not generally relying on them. 

Hopefully he wouldn’t have to use the shuriken, though; even with the discovery that carving Buddha statues calmed the shura he would rather not risk dealing with it at all. He began creeping around the temple’s outskirts, watching for any monks, when he heard someone. 

One monk. And two children. Walking towards the temple. As the heat started to increase Orangutan noticed the monk was pulling the struggling children along by their wrists. 

He threw one shuriken quickly, and hit the monk in the shoulder rather than the neck like he had aimed for; as the monk released the children and began to turn Orangutan had already drawn his sword and run the man through. Everything was turning red, starting to burn, the children-

-Were staring at him, very close by, not sure if they should run or not from this shinobi who had saved them but was still holding his sword. The girl had brown hair; for a moment, he thought she might have been Emma.

Emma. He needed to calm down. He had to fight this. Emma. And Dogen.  _ This isn’t what Kingfisher would have wanted _ he realized suddenly, and blinked, and the flames were gone.

But not extinguished. Just dormant, like a banked fire. They had been brought to life once and now he wasn’t sure if he could extinguish them. But he was not in danger. He sheathed his sword and knelt, offering a hand to the children. 

“Which village did they take you from? I can bring you back.” The fire did not want to be banked; it was a struggle keeping the sentence normal.

“Urasaki.” He frowned and felt himself heat up a little more. That was very near the castle; how did the monks get that far into Ashina?

“He brought you from that far away?” The fire was trying to light again. He needed to get out of this area, and hope that would calm this.

“Through the tunnel. He said we could come play in the castle and he brought us to a cave and it was all dark and he started pulling us to keep up.” The girl was the spokesperson; the boy was much younger than she was. 

“I am going to bring both of you home. Can you show me the tunnel on this side, and the one at your village? We do not have to take the tunnel back.”

“It’s over here.” The children led him to a small building sheltering a tunnel cut into the rock. Neither wanted to venture back in; after a few minutes work, Orangutan was able to adjust the straps holding his sword and his obi to effectively tie the girl to him as she clung to his shoulders; the boy he held in his good hand. The prosthetic was able to pull him back to Ashina’s side of Mount Kongo without having to climb down very far, and then pull them back up. The fire had calmed, slightly, but it did not feel like it was going to diminish this time.

The village was a hive of activity when he arrived, still carrying the two children; but someone saw him and he heard shouts before multiple people ran over. Both children started calling for their parents, who looked like they had been crying. The boy was handed off easily, though it took a minute to extract the girl from the makeshift harness she had. 

“You found them! How can we thank you?” Their mother was hugging both children at once; unsurprisingly, both were hugging back like they had just been kidnapped. He watched the children and their parents for a second before reacting, feeling some of the heat dissipate.

“Senpou Temple monks tried to take them. I need them to show me where the tunnel is they were taken through; you’ll need to have a few guards watching it, too, until Lord Isshin can do something about it. I am going to let him know once I’ve seen it.” Still clutching her mother’s hand, the girl brought them to a small hill in the forest a little ways outside the village. On the far side was a crude hole, half hidden by foliage, and a rough ladder leading down. 

“We’ll have several people watching it for now.” Many of these villages held soldiers’ families, and retired soldiers; one of them had taken over the security. Orangutan nodded and made his way back to the castle proper. He wasn’t sure how he was going to tell Isshin he couldn’t return to Senpou Temple, not if the shura had almost come back, when he realized he probably wouldn’t need to. Isshin had known he might have fallen to shura already, and was there the first time; he’d probably recognize it again.

“Sekijo, you’re back earlier than expected.” Isshin was busy in his quarters when Orangutan arrived. “What did y-” He stopped abruptly when he met Orangutan’s eyes. 

“It came back. You’re not missing any more limbs and if it was still here we would be fighting.” 

“I fought it off, Lord Isshin, but-”

“We cannot risk the shura coming back.”

“I need to retire. I found the monk’s other route into Ashina. They’re digging tunnels through the mountains. One of them walked right by me with two kids.” He saw Isshin tense up. “I killed the monk ... dealt with the shura, then got the kids out. They were from Urasaki, Lord Isshin. Practically right outside the castle. Some retired soldiers there are watching the tunnel.”

“Coming into Ashina through tunnels… we’ll need to stop that. But Sekijo.” He knelt next to Orangutan, still kneeling. “If one monk-”

“I think it was because he had the children, Isshin. One of them looked like Emma. I’ve dealt with plenty of other monks and been fine.”

“Fine, Sekijo? Or the shura wasn’t as loud?” Isshin was looking at him intently. Orangutan fully intended to lie to him and was very surprised when he didn’t.

“I could feel it stir dealing with the others but it was never that bad.” He paused for a moment, debating if he should continue telling the truth now that he had started. “I thought it would go away eventually, but it just fades into the background, it doesn’t go away.” Isshin grimaced; when he began talking it sounded like he really had not wanted to voice this thought.

“Sekijo, if the shura isn’t going away-”

“It might, one day, Isshin, but…. there is something I forgot, something important… let me think of it.” Isshin was politely silent for a few minutes before his patience ran out; Orangutan spoke just before he did. 

“The Buddha. I started carving a Buddha a few weeks ago, and that- it was almost like pouring water on a fire. It didn’t last more than a few hours, but I didn’t finish carving it. There is a temple in the outskirts that hasn’t been used for some time; with your permission, Lord Isshin, I could go there.” Unspoken was the thought that if this didn’t work, the temple was far enough away the shura wouldn’t be able to get to a population hub before someone stuck him down. Isshin nodded slowly.

“There was a sculptor there, when I was young, sculpting Buddha statues. You may find some of his supplies are still present.” Orangutan nodded and rose, then paused, and knelt again. He pulled his  _ ōdachi _ and sheath off his back and offered it to Isshin. 

“I’m not going to be using this anymore. Better it stay here, where someone might.” 

“Don’t tie yourself to that, Sekijo. If carving works, I’ll be happy to have you working again, if I need you.”

“Of course, Lord Isshin. If you need me. But for now.” He left after Isshin accepted it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter is basically just an epilogue, it's about half as long and I know these aren't long to begin with. I might have it up earlier but we'll see.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just an epilogue

One of the younger Nightjars got the shuriken wheel; he was the one who had seemed most enthusiastic about the possibilities of the prosthetic. Orangutan had not gotten the chance to add more tools to the arm, and even if his retirement was temporary he was not going to tempt fate and start adding more tools to it.

He should have given it back to Dogen, when he explained what had happened and where he would be for the foreseeable future. Dogen hadn’t said anything about it, hadn’t even glanced at the prosthetic; that would have made it easier to return. But he hadn’t. 

So Orangutan had kept it. He knew it was, at this point, dangerous to keep; he knew it would make it much too easy to storm Ashina if the shura returned, especially with the grappling hook and since Dogen had made sure he could add new tools to it; he knew it would be easier to fight off a one armed shura. 

But he couldn’t bring himself to leave it, to abandon it somewhere, even if that was just returning it to Dogen. It had been from the man in the first place after all; returning it would be like returning a gift. He kept telling himself that as he made his way to the temple.

He crossed a final bridge that creaked of disuse and turned a corner to see the temple. It also appeared to creak of disuse just from looking at it. It would need some work; at the very least he would have to patch the roof. There were a few holes in the walls but it was surrounded on three sides by bamboo and rock and that wouldn’t be as much of a problem. Inside, against one wall, was a metal Buddha statue and a few small books. Poking at one did not cause the pile to disintegrate against Orangutan’s expectations, so he began paging through them. 

They were notes, instructions, and a day-to-day record of the sculptor Isshin had told him about; most of it was monotonous- all the man had done, really, was carve Buddha statues, sometimes to make a metal version, and occasionally eat- but he had left a sheet talking about the properties he had noticed on this Buddha left in the temple. 

With an offering, it could show you your memories, or your future, but he had never been sure if what he was shown was what had happened or was going to happen. Orangutan looked at the sculpture, and decided not to try it yet. He had work to do on the temple first.

* * *

“Did you choose the furthest corner of Ashina you could on purpose or was that a coincidence?” Orangutan had not expected visitors this soon, a few days into this new life, much less that Dogen and Emma had made the trek, but he couldn’t help but smile. Dogen was carrying something in one arm, Emma in the other, but she was already wiggling to be free. Orangutan climbed down from the roof where he had been patching one of the larger holes.

“This is what Isshin offered, so I took it. Emma, Dogen, it’s good to see you.” 

“Orangutan!” Emma finally succeeded in freeing herself and ran over to hug his leg. “I saw a big snake on the way here! And Dogen showed me how to treat a snake bite!” 

“A soldier got bitten, Orangutan, don’t look at me like that. And we caught a glimpse of the serpent god’s shed in the valley.” 

“This walk is at least two hours, Dogen. Why come out this far so soon after I left?” 

“You didn’t think the prosthetic was finished, did you? I’m not going to rest until it’s just as good as the original arm. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you can’t tie knots with it.”

Orangutan smiled as stood up from hugging Emma back. She ran off to explore as he talked with Dogen. 

“Tie knots? You’re sure, Dogen? It can grasp right now. That kind of precision work is going to be very difficult.”

“If you’re that sure it won’t work I’ll make it work out of spite, Orangutan. I have some ideas and this one- wait, Emma dear? Where’d you run off to?” Dogen put the new prosthetic down as he looked around. Orangutan glanced around the area and saw no Emma, but he had found the tunnel and the other clearing exploring already. The tunnel was closer.

Emma was in the tunnel, inspecting the locked shinobi door it led to. She looked up as he entered, crouching to fit inside.

“It’s broken.” She had picked up how to use the doors quickly; Orangutan had been careful to keep her away from the more dangerous ones. 

“It’s not broken, Emma, the other side is locked. I’m not sure where it goes, so I can’t unlock it.” 

“Hmph.” She sounded so much like Orangutan that Dogen, standing up straight in the tunnel behind him, laughed. 

“That was  _ exactly _ the sound you make, Orangutan, don’t look at me like that.” He leaned around Orangutan’s frown and gestured at Emma to return to him. “I’m sure we’ll find where it goes eventually, Emma. But I need to make sure this arm fits, and Lord Isshin is expecting us back at the castle. We’ll come back soon, don’t worry.” This was half directed at her, half at Orangutan as they walked out to fit the new prosthetic.

* * *

“Orangutan!” He jolted upright, and hurriedly left the temple when he heard Emma call; it had been snowing, not unusual at this altitude, but he had thought Dogen and Emma wouldn’t be willing to make the trek out here, not with how much longer the trip would be.

The snow in front of the temple was clear except for his tracks out to the bamboo pile. No Emma was to be seen. He looked to his left when he saw movement to see her waving in front of the tunnel that led to the locked shinobi door.

“I found the other door! It’s in the castle! We don’t have to walk forever to come see you now! I-” She stopped, and Orangutan heard muffled shouting. “Dogen doesn’t know how to use the doors. I’ll be right back!” And she turned and ran back into the tunnel as Orangutan smiled and began walking over to break a path in the snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me for this! 
> 
> Next big project (Hirata Raid before/during/after) is in the works and there's some smaller stuff being done, but for now, this story is finished.


End file.
